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L 





JOURNAL 


OF A 

S T E A M V 0 V A G I£ 

DOWN THE DANUBE TO 

CONSTANTINOPLE, 

AND THENCE BY WAY OF 

MALTA AND MARSEILLES 

TO ENGLAND. 


“ These Tourists, Heaven preserve us ! needs must live 
A profitable life." . Wordsworth. 


) 

T-P“ 

> > 

s, 4 > 


LONDON: 

PRINTED BY MOYES AND BARCLAY, CASTLE STREET, 
LEICESTER SQUARE. 

1842. 



mt 


NEW YUP.K, N. Y, 


r • 
V\ 


LIBRARY 







13 9 6 N 


JUL. 8 2353 






CONTENTS 


DEPARTURE FOR OSTEND . . 

GHENT . 

BRUSSELS . 

LAAKEN . 

M ALIN ES . 

LIEGE. 

AIX-LA-CH APF.LLE. 

COLOGNE . 

BONN .. 

WIESBADEN . 

FRANKFURT ON THE MAINE 

NUREMBERG . 

R ATISBON. 

LINZ... 

VIENNA. 

TRESBURG . 

PESTII . 

BUDA . 

PETERWARDEIN . 


1 

1 


3 


3 


3 

4 

5 

6 
7 

10 

11 

12 


13 

15 

17 

21 

22 

23 

27 






















IV 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

BELGRADE. 27 

ORSOVA. 29 

MEHADIA . 31 

CLADOSNITZ A . 34 

CZERNAVODA . 37 

KUSTENJE. 41 

CONSTANTINOPLE. 43 

SMYRNA . 72 

MALTA . 76 

VALLETTA. 81 

SYRACUSE. 90 

MESSINA . 98 

NAPLES. 102 

VESUVIUS . 103 

FOxMPEII . 107 

TEMPLE OF SEIIAPIS. 109 

MUSEO BOIIBONICO . 112 

CAPUA . 115 

TERRACINA . 116 

ROME. 119 

Cl VITA V ECC III A . 133 

LEGHORN . 134 

MARSEILLES. 135 

LYONS . 135 

PARIS . 137 

ARRIVAL IN LONDON . 13S 

APPENDIX. 139 


































Dogberry. —.“ Truly, for mine own part, if I 

were as tedious as a king, I could find it in my heart to bestow it all 
on your worship.” — Much Ado about Nothing. 



s. 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


On Saturday , June 26, 1841, at three o’clock in 
the morning, we left London for Ostend, with our two 
little boys, and a man and a maid servant. We had 
rather a rough passage, and arrived at Ostend at half¬ 
past five in the afternoon. We dined, and walked in 
the evening on the Dyke, which affords a fine dry 
promenade to the lovers of sea-views and sea-breezes. 
There is but little to detain the tourist at Ostend; but 
those who have never yet seen any of the carved wood¬ 
work for which Belgium is so celebrated will find 
some good specimens to begin with in the spacious 
church. 

Sunday , June 27.— Sent the children and servants 
on by the railway to Brussels, whilst we stopped at 
Ghent to dine and see the town. The whole place 
was in a bustle, every one going to the races; Eng- 
'•v lish equipages rattling in all directions, and the English 
tongue predominant. We fell in with several acquaint¬ 
ances, who tried to persuade us to accompany them to 
the course to witness the sports of the day, but we 


B 



•> 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


preferred the quieter scenes of the courts of the Bequin- 
age, and the beauties and riches of the Church of St. 
Bavon. In this church the pulpit, carved in white 
marble and oak, is particularly fine. There are many 
other objects of interest and curiosity in Ghent: few 
of the cities usually visited by tourists are, on the 
whole, so well worth seeing. 

But in the whirl of steam-power we have actually 
overlooked the city of Bruges, which we left behind us 
between Ostend and Ghent. Bruges — where 

u The spirit of antiquity, enshrined 

In sumptuous buildings, vocal in sweet song, 

In picture, speaking with heroic tongue, 

And with devout solemnities entwined, 

Strikes to the seat of grace within the mind.” 

Wordsworth. 

Our only excuse is that we visited Bruges not many 
years ago, when this same journey used to be per¬ 
formed by a conveyance keeping up the notion of 
“leisure,” and “sedate forbearance,” and a “ decency,” 
more in harmony with the tone of these consecrated 
cities than the impetuous railway,—I mean the passage 
boat that was towed along the sleepy canal with an 
uniform dreamlike motion at the rate of four miles an 
hour, not to mention the excellent fish dinners served 
up on board those well-found barks : but these are 
bygone days, and, agreeably to the new laws of 
motion, we went on by a late train to Brussels, 
where we found the children comfortably established at 
the Hotel ( Belle Vue). 


BRUSSELS. 


Monday, June 28.— At Brussels. We visited the 
Cathedral, which contains objects of the greatest in¬ 
terest and beauty, especially the carved oak pulpit, 
and an altar-piece designed by Rubens. We also 
visited the Church of Notre Dame, the Town-Hall, 
the palace of the States General, the palace of the 
Prince of Orange, the hotel of the Duke d’Aremberg, 
and the monument erected to the memory of those 
who fell in the Revolution of 1830. 

In the evening we drove to Laaken, a pretty 
village near the town. Here Malibran was buried, 
and an ugly square tomb is erected over her remains. 
In the church there was an interesting scene of the 
village children at confession. We then drove as near 
as we were permitted to the royal residence at Laaken, 
and returned by the outskirts of the park to Brussels. 
Left a card for Professor Quetelet at the Observatory. 

Tuesday , June 29.— By railway to Malines, and 
back in the evening. The Cathedral, and the sub¬ 
lime picture of the Crucifixion by Vandyke, are the 
chief objects of interest here. Nothing can surpass 
the elegance of the perforated stonework of the Ca¬ 
thedral tower, against which the clock-dial, in light 
open gilt iron-work, hangs, at a vast height, really 
like a cobweb. This dial, however, is upwards of 
fourteen yards in diameter, and the figures denoting 
the hours are nearly seven feet high, both which 
measurements we took from the fac-simile of the dial 
laid down in asphalte in the market-place. 

The appearance of desolation that a short time ago 


4 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


pervaded the town of Malines is beginning to wear off. 
Here is the central railway station, and new rows of 
houses are springing up, probably to be soon tenanted 
by English residents. We also visited a manufactory 
of the right Mechlin, and admired the light Dutch- 
gold earrings and ornaments in the shops, which 
are very tempting ; but we could not resist a straw 
bonnet and cap with lappets, such as are worn here by 
the peasant girls ; a purchase, however, by no means 
ruinous. We returned the same evening to Brussels. 
I cannot refrain, before quitting Brussels, from quoting 
again from Wordsworth : “ In Brussels, the modern 
taste in costume, architecture, &c. has got the mastery ; 
in Ghent there is a struggle ; but in Bruges old images 
are still paramount, and an air of monastic life among 
the quiet goings on of a thinly peopled city, is inex¬ 
pressibly soothing.” 

Wednesday, June 30.—From Brussels to Liege by 
railway. The chief object of interest at Liege is the 
Hall of Justice, formerly the Archiepiscopal Palace. 
The Moorish style of architecture of the interior court 
is very striking. Here every one will surely prefer 
Scott’s vivid romance of “ Quentin Durward ” to a 
more matter-of-fact guide-book. The interior of the 
Church of St. Jacques has a gorgeous appearance, but 
the decorations are hardly in good taste. The carved 
pulpits of Belgium are no more to be seen. The 
manners and address of the people of Liege are very 
pleasing. The food and accommodations in general, at 
our Hotel (Pavilion Anglais), were very indifferent, so 


AIX-LA-CHAPELLE. 


5 

we walked into the town and dined at a cafe. At ten 
o’clock at night we left Liege for Aix-la-Chapelle, 

with two companions, Mr. L- F-, and Mr. 

F-, who continued to be our fellow-travellers until 

the 11th of September. 

Thursday, July 1.—At Aix-la-Chapelle, the ancient 
seat of Charlemagne. We visited the baths, the Redoute, 
and the churches. The latter are profusely ornamented, 
but I could not admire them after the Belgian edifices. 
In the treasury of the Cathedral we saw the “ Petites 
Reliques J which, as well as the “ Grandes Reliques 
are deposited there; but the “ Grandes Reliques ” are 
exhibited to the public only once in seven years, and 
at other times to none but crowned heads. 

We drove in the afternoon to the Louisberg, a hill 
just out of the town, from whence there is a fine view. 
A handsome house of public entertainment is built 
here, which is much frequented ; but as the weather 
was wet and cold the place was quite deserted. The 
Hotel (des Quatres Saisons ) at which we were staying 
was under repair, and was on that account uncomfort¬ 
able, but it was in other respects well conducted, and 
the people were very civil. 

Friday, July 2.—In a hired carriage from Aix-la- 
Chapelle to Cologne. We went to the Hotel ( Grosser 
Rheinberg), which is most conveniently situated close 
to the river and to the bridge of boats, the operations 
connected with which are a constant source of enter¬ 
tainment. It came on to rain when we arrived, with a 





6 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


thick yellow fog, and the river was quite foul and 
muddy. 

Saturday , July 3. — At Cologne. Visited the 
Cathedral; on entering which stupendous but un¬ 
finished edifice every one must feel inclined to break 
forth with Wordsworth,— 

“ O for the help of angels to complete 
This Temple ! Angels governed by a plan 
How gloriously pursued by daring man, 

Studious that He might not disdain the seat, 

Who dwells in Heaven ! But that inspiring heat 

Hath failed ; and now, ye Powers ! whose gorgeous wings 

And splendid aspect, yon emblazonings 

But faintly picture, ’twere an office meet 

For you, on these unfinished shafts to try 

The midnight virtues of your harmony 

This vast design might tempt you to repeat 

Strains that call forth upon empyreal ground 

Immortal fabrics, rising to the sound 

Of penetrating harps and voices sweet! ’ ’ 


We then spent some time in the Church of St. Peter 
in admiration of Rubens’ powerful picture of the cru¬ 
cifixion of that Apostle, and speculated earnestly on 
the vast collections of bones in the churches of St. 
Ursula and St. Geryon ; after which we sweetened 
our imaginations, not with an ounce of civet, but with 
a better thing, some genuine eau de Cologne. In 
the evening the weather became beautifully fine, and 
we went as far as Bonn by the steamer. We found 
the Hotel ( Golden Star') very good. 


BONN. 


7 


At night, by the brilliant starlight, a great number 
of the students, unmindful of Niebuhr.and Schlegel, 
were diverting themselves by marching round the 
market-place, singing, laughing, and hallooing, burst¬ 
ing out at the same time occasionally into snatches of 
wild and singularly beautiful choruses with wonderful 
harmony and effect, tramping all together in strict 
time to their own music. We mixed with them, and 
we were of course instantly discovered to be strangers, 
and at one moment there was a slight indication of the 
commencement of a row , but all ended well and peace¬ 
ably. 

Sunday , July 4.—At Bonn. Interesting proces¬ 
sion of the National School children to the Cathedral. 
They sang in chorus as they passed along, as if 
harmony was here innate. First came about fifty boys, 
then as many girls, then a great number of young 
women, then the priests, and the high-priest with the 
Host. We all bowed or knelt in the market-place as 
they passed. The procession must have consisted of 
many hundreds of persons. 

We then walked through the village of Popplesdorf, 
and up the hill called the Kreutsberg, about two miles 
from Bonn. 

The dead bodies of the monks in the vault of the 
Conventual Church on the summit of the hill are a 
great sight here. With an old and very infirm man 
for our guide, we descended into the vault, and saw 
them, twenty-five in number, lying in their open 
wooden coffins in the clothes they wore when alive ; 


8 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


and, strange to say, the sight was not a disgusting one, 
for the place was perfectly dry, airy, and without 
smell. The bodies were quite dried up, and their skins 
resembled leather or parchment. Some had lain there 
whole centuries. The old man pointed out one of the 
bodies to us, which he said he had himself seen 
deposited there more than sixty years before. He 
was very asthmatic, and was unable to surmount the 
last few steps leading out of the vault without the help 
of a stout young girl who had placed herself so as to 
be in readiness to assist him. Whilst he stood, both 
figuratively and literally, with one foot in the grave, 
clinging to her for support, the group presented a vivid 
picture of youthful vigour standing between old age 
and the King of Terrors. 

Here, too, we were shewn a flight of stairs said 
to have been those which led up to the Judgment- 
Hall of Pilate, still stained with the blood that fell 
from our Saviour’s brow ; a tradition which is also 
reported of the “ Scala Santa'’ at Rome. 

We went on in the afternoon to the ruined castle 
of Godesberg, which is well worth a visit, as is 
also the quiet little watering-place close at hand. 
Nothing can exceed the beauty of the view from 
thence, looking over the country and across the Rhine 
to the Seven Mountains. After rambling about, and 
tasting the water of the mineral spring, we went on 
to Kbnigswinter (Hotel de Berlin ), where we remained 
for the night. But the evening was most lovely, and 
we could not resist the temptation of an excursion to the 


FRANKFURT. 


9 


summit of the Drachenfels before we retired to rest ; 
during the ascent and descent the views are beautiful. 
The river, however, as you look directly down upon it 
from the summit, takes somewhat the appearance of a 
canal: the best view is obtained by looking up the 
river towards the Island of Nonnenworth. 

Monday , July 5. — Bathed in the river early in 
the morning, and at half-past seven we started for 
St. Goar by the steamer. The beauties of the Rhine, 
the perpetual “ dance of objects,” occupied us all the 
way. We stopped at St. Goar, at the Hotel (Fleur de 
Lys ), and then walked up to the Castle of Rhein-fels. 
It is a ruin of great extent, and is very well worth 
seeing, and forms a principal feature in the lovely 
scenery. We were perpetually catching fresh and 
delightful points of view as we walked and scrambled 
about. 

Hallam, speaking of the state of society in the 
middle ages, says:— 

“ The more ravenous feudal lords descended from 
their fortresses to pillage the wealthy traveller, or 
shared in the spoil of inferior plunderers. * * 

Germany appears to have been, upon the whole, the 
country where downright robbery was most un¬ 
scrupulously practised by the great. Their castles, 
erected on almost inaccessible heights among the 
woods, became the secure receptacles of predatory 
bands, who spread terror over the country. From 
these barbarian lords of the dark ages, as from a 
living model, the romancers are said to have drawn 

b 2 


10 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


their giants and other disloyal enemies of true 
chivalry.” 

And again in the same work, speaking of Germany : 

“ A very large proportion of the rural nobility 
lived by robbery. Their castles, as the ruins still 
bear witness, were erected upon inaccessible hills, and 
in defiles that command the public road. An Arch¬ 
bishop of Cologne having built a fortress of this kind, 
the governor inquired how he was to maintain him¬ 
self, no revenue having been assigned for that purpose. 
The prelate only desired him to remark that the 
castle was situated near the junction of four roads.” 

In the evening we walked along the banks of 
the noble river, admiring the volume and torrent of the 
water, and the whirlpools dreaded by raft-owners. At 
night we were amused by the echoes of a French 
horn, played for our edification by a village professor. 

Tuesday , July 6. — Walked to the village of 
Petersberg up the gorge called by courtesy the 
Swiss valley, on the side of the river opposite to St. 
Goar. Then by the steamer to Biebrick, and from 
thence in a carriage to Wiesbaden. Heavy rain came 
on, and I was attacked with a feverish cold. 

Wednesday , July 7. — At Wiesbaden (English 
Hotel). Remained at home all day. 

Thursday , July 8. — We are not much pleased 
with Wiesbaden: it is hot, close, and expensive. 
Wandering round the shops of the Kursaal, and 
through the assembly and gaming rooms, is an opera¬ 
tion which soon becomes wearisome. Yet Wiesbaden 


FRANKFURT. 


11 


is a place of extensive and ancient repute, and the 
environs are lovely, and the natural hot springs are 
exceedingly curious. 

Friday , July 9.— To Frankfurt on the Maine in 
the afternoon by railway (Hotel de Russie ). Here 
we found the best table d' liote we have yet met 
with, and excellent Rudesheimer, of which divine 
potation 

“ Fecundi calices quem non fecere disertum ?”—Horace. 

Frankfurt is a very fine town, and it struck me as 
somewhat resembling Ghent. 

Saturday , July 10. — We called on Mr. Koch the 
banker, who received us, as he receives every one, 
with the greatest kindness and civility, and invited 
us to his house in the evening. We amused our¬ 
selves all day with the public walks and sights of 
Frankfurt, of which, perhaps, the chief are Dannecker’s 
celebrated statue of Ariadne, and the burying-ground. 
The Ariadne is the property of Monsieur Bethman ; 
she is represented as reclining on a leopard: 

“ Ilia (nec invideo) frnitur meliore marito, 

Inque capistratis tigribus alta sedet.” 

Ovid, Epist. II. 80. 

The bronze copies of the Ariadne sold in Frankfurt 
are heavy to the eye as well as to the pocket. 

The burying-ground is about a mile out of the 
city; I walked thither with a young German with 
whom I fell in company accidentally, and who spoke 
English perfectly well. Connected with the burying- 


12 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


ground are a series of chambers arranged for the 
reception of persons apparently dead, with all kinds 
of apparatus for resuscitation, which I was informed 
had hardly ever been used, and was therefore surprised 
to find in complete order. 

We then walked over the burial-ground, and 
reached a point which commanded a view of the 
whole, together with the range of country beyond, 
towards the Taunus hills, then glowing in the sunset; 
close by on our right, adjoining the cemetery, was a 
corn-field, and the thought came across me that there 
was a crop sown on both sides of the wall. Having 
been conducted round the whole, we wished our guide 
good evening, and walked back together to Frankfurt. 

Sunday , July 11. — Weather very cold with heavy 
rain. Preparations for departure. 

Monday , July 12.—We left the children at Frank¬ 
furt with the man-servant, in order to return to Eng¬ 
land by the next boat down the Rhine to Rotterdam; 
and started in the morning from Frankfurt for Wiirtz- 
burg in the Eil-wagen. The forest of Spessart, part 
of the ancient Hercynian forest, and the ferry at 
Lang-furth, were among the most interesting features 
of our journey. We arrived at Wiirtzburg at night, 
in about twelve hours from Frankfurt; and started 
again the same night for Nuremberg. 

Tuesday , July 13. — We arrived at Nuremberg 
at about noon, but remained in this celebrated ancient 
city only for a few hours. The streets are fine and 
wide, without the gloom that usually hangs over old 


RATISBON. 


13 


German towns, so that the fantastic and in many 
instances beautiful architecture of the houses is seen 
to great advantage. We left Nuremberg for Ratisbon, 
and arrived there about midnight. We were over¬ 
taken by heavy rain with thunder and lightning, at 
about seven in the evening. 

o 

Wednesday , July 14.— At Ratisbon ; a remarkable 
and ancient city. Funeral service and procession for 
the Bishop of Ratisbon, who was buried in the 
Cathedral this day. The procession through the 
streets was tedious, but the whole effect very striking, 
with an immense assemblage of the clergy. 

The town-hall, torture-chamber, and dungeons, 
are very curious. The instruments of torture are 
nearly perfect; the stone weights that were attached 
to the feet of wretches suspended from the ceiling and 
thus racked perpendicularly were such as I could 
with difficulty lift with one hand. The horizontal 
rack wanted but new ropes to put it in working 
order. In the Council, or Diet Chamber, we were 
shewn a book entitled, “ Constitutio Criminalis There- 
siana,” Vienna , 1769; in which were plates of the 
instruments of torture, and of their application, with 
some elaborate methods of tying the arms and fingers 
tight with small cord, not unlike, at first sight, re¬ 
presentations of the application of surgical bandages, 
but in reality how different! 

The dungeons are quite unlike the airy, moonshiny 
cells of romance; they are dark, close, wainscoted 
rooms, in the solid stone building, some eight feet 


14 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


square, conveying no idea but that of blind and hope¬ 
less captivity. Underneath those into which we 
entered are others, into which the prisoners were 
lowered and secured by iron gratings, through which 
we threw down pieces of lighted paper to afford us 
a view of these horrible pits for the living. 

The gate of the Scotch Benedictine Church 
appeared to us as very remarkable for the grotesque 
Orientalism of its architecture. Some of the devices 
are figured in Dibdin’s “ German Tour.” 

The weather was beautiful, and we walked round 
a pleasant public garden, where several public monu¬ 
ments are erected, and among them one to the memory 
of Kepler, who died here. We met with no English, 
and the people were very civil, and took much 

notice of G-. The antique gloom of Ratisbon is 

very striking. The bridge over the Danube is a 
curious structure, and the view from it very fine. 
Hotel ( Golden Angel). 

Thursday , July 15. — At five o’clock in the morn¬ 
ing, in a pour down of rain, we left Ratisbon in 
the steamer for Linz. We soon came to some rocky 
hills on our left, about a mile from the river, on 
one of which the Valhalla (the modern German 
Parthenon) occupies a most commanding situation. 
It continued to rain heavily, and the hills were 
partially shrouded in mist. The heights were all 
wooded. We then came to Donaustauff, where the 
scenery became more interesting. Between nine and 
ten o’clock the weather cleared up as we approached 



DEGENDORF. 


15 


a fine range of lofty cultivated hills on the left bank, 
with villages and churches interspersed. We then 
came to Degendorf. This place is backed by lovely 
and imposing scenery, not unlike what I remember 
to have seen in the county of Wicklow. There was 
a fine effect of mist and heavy rain far up the valley 
inland. At half past twelve we reached Passau. It 
is, apparently, a large town, and is singularly beautiful 
as seen from the river. The Danube here receives 
the river Inn as a tributary. The citadel stands 
finely on a hill clothed with wood. Passau certainly 
exceeds Coblentz in beauty. On leaving Passau we 
passed for several miles through a noble defile, with 
a mixture of rock, wood, and verdure, down to the 
water’s edge, reminding me of some scenes near 
Keswick. The scenery is altogether wilder and more 
satisfactory than that of the Rhine; the perpetual 
verdure is a new and delightful feature ; the only 
drawback here, as on the Rhine, is the want of 
transparency in the water. We arrived at Linz in 
twelve hours. The distance between Linz and Ratisbon 
by the road is 127 miles ; I conclude, therefore, that by 
the river the distance must be nearly 200 miles. In 
the evening we walked about the lovely environs of 
Linz; the hills in the neighbourhood are of consider¬ 
able height. Hotel ( Golden Lion). 

Friday , July 16. — Left Linz for Vienna by a fine 
steamer at six in the morning. We descended the 
river at an astonishingly rapid rate, and arrived at 


16 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


the landing place at three o’clock, in nine hours from 
Linz. 

Even where the banks are low, and the country 
in the immediate neighbourhood is flat, the nature 
of the river itself, which is full of islands, shal¬ 
lows, and sunken rocks, is still such as to keep 
alive the attention of both passengers and pilots ; we 
had three men at the wheel for several miles. Some¬ 
times the river assumes the appearance of a lake 
full of islands. The defiles are wooded down to the 
water’s edge, with a mixture of rock and fine grassy 
slopes, and perhaps a strip of cultivated land. Here 
are also rocky heights crowned with churches, con¬ 
vents, and castles, now in ruins, once the feudal 
dwellings of robber knights or wreckers of the 
Danube. As subjects for the pencil we particularly 
remarked the town of Enns and the Castle of Nieder 
Wallsee. 

We then came to the celebrated rapid and whirl¬ 
pool, the Strudel and Wirbel. Here the scenery, 
in unbounded variety, exquisite harmony, and con¬ 
siderable grandeur, perhaps exceeded any thing I ever 
saw r before. As we shot down the torrent, we saw 
three or four rude barges, with capital teams of good- 
looking horses, struggling against the stream along 
the rugged towing path, the drivers urging them, and 
saluting us, with wild cries and gestures. 

Next we came to the convent of Molk. The 
pencil alone can convey any idea of the beauty of 


VIENNA. 


17 


this vast and noble structure enthroned on its rockv 
eminence, with the Danube winding round its base: 
I certainly never saw any thing so superb. Next 
came the Castles of Aggstein and Durrenstein ; the 
latter said to have undoubtedly been the prison of 
Richard Coeur-de-Lion; next rose to view, at a short 
distance from the river, the majestic Convent of 
Gottweich, scarcely inferior to the Convent of Molk. 
The w r onderful beauties of the Danube have hitherto 
surprised and delighted us ; nothing can exceed the 
effect of the deep cool verdure of the precipitous 
defiles; and where the view is more open, the eye 
is not confined to the immediate neighbourhood of the 
river, but enjoys exquisite views, comprising several 
distinct distances, often extending a great way in¬ 
land. 

The extreme beauty of the scenery falls off' as you 
approach Vienna ; yet there are some bold hills on 
the right bank, the spurs of the Noric Alps. We dis¬ 
embarked at Nussdorf, and went on to Vienna. Hotel 
(London- Stadt). 

Saturday, July 17.—At Vienna—the Cathedral — 
Prince Lichstenstein’s collection of pictures—the Prater 
—heat of the weather intense. 

Sunday, July 18. — Divine service at the Church 
of St. Peter — walked about the town — in the evening 
to the public gardens with Strauss’s band. The heat 
to-day was very extraordinary; the sky was cloudless, 
with a violent hot wind from the south-west: shade 
afforded no refreshment : underneath a gateway, or 


18 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


in any other situation where there was a strong current 
of air, the heat was greatest of all.* 

Monday , July 19. — Royal tombs at the Church 
of the Capucins — palace of the Archduke Charles — 
cabinet of minerals — drive to the field of Wagram — 
to the swimming school. 

Tuesday , July 20.—Occupied in the morning with 
small purchases ; then to the Belvidere Palace, where, 
amongst an infinity of curiosities of various descrip¬ 
tions, we saw the salt-cellar made for Francis I. by 
Benvenuto Cellini, and described by him in his own 
memoirs. 

In the evening to the public gardens, where there 
was a ball, with Lanner’s band. It was a beautiful 
and entertaining sight. The dancing consisted entirely 
of waltzes and gallopades. We thought the gentlemen 
performed much better than the ladies. The gardens 
were lighted up very prettily, and parties were sitting 
under the trees, whose branches were hung with 
lamps, whilst bonnets and shawls suspended on the 
boughs mixed their gay colours with the illuminated 
foliage. There were probably a thousand people in 
the ball-room and gardens, and at least an equal 
number were regaling at a cheaper rate outside the 
doors of admittance. Universal order and good- 
humour seemed to prevail. 

t 

* In Galignani’s newspaper of August 3d this great heat is 
mentioned as having been felt throughout Europe, and Fahrenheit’s 
thermometer is there stated to have stood at Vienna at 102° in the 
shade. 


VIENNA. 


19 


Wednesday, July 21.—In the morning to the 
arsenal, which is full of curiosities, and to one or two 
galleries of pictures. To the Opera in the evening. 

Thursday, July 22.—Museum of natural history— 
more pictures—palace and gardens of Schon-brunnen 
—public gardens with Lanner’s band. In the evening 
a thunder shower, with distant lightning at night in all 
quarters of the sky. 

Friday, July 23.—To the Imperial Palace—Cabinet 
of Antiquities — the Treasury — Divine service at the 
Jewish synagogue—public gardens with Strauss’s band. 
The cameos and intaglios, and the rare and delicate 
objects of art, some by Benvenuto Cellini, that we 
saw to-day, were quite wonderful, and the jewels 
absolutely seemed to realise the enchantments of 
Aladdin’s cave. 

Saturday, July 24. — Visited the church of the 
Jesuits. The guide expected us to be in raptures, 
but we did not think it nearly so fine a church as that 
of St. Peter. There is much false ornament about 
it, and the pillars and several statues are in imitation 
of marble. But still worse is the painted repre¬ 
sentation of a dome overhead as you enter the church. 
The deception is very perfect as long as you keep to 
the true point of sight, but from other parts of the 
church the distortion is quite distressing. I after¬ 
wards ascended to the highest accessible part of the 
lofty spire of the cathedral, from whence the view well 
repays you for the trouble. 

Sunday, July 25. — The morning occupied with 


20 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


preparations for departure. We left Vienna at four in 
the afternoon by the steam-boat for Presburg. 

We did not find the living at Vienna very ex¬ 
pensive, and were much pleased with the civility of 
the people. But I apprehend that Vienna can be 
justly appreciated only by a winter’s residence there. 
At this time of the year the city is quite deserted 
by the upper classes. The Italian Opera, too, had 
closed for the season. We thought the shops very 
indifferent, and most of the articles, particularly of 
apparel, extravagantly dear. On the whole, in spite 
of the wonders of the place, pictures, palaces, churches, 
and endless treasures, we quitted Vienna without 
regret. We seemed, we scarcely knew why, to be 
constantly looking for something further which was 
never realised. We were glad to escape from the 
lofty narrow streets into open country and fresher air. 

We left Vienna from the landing-place on the 
banks of the Danube beyond the Prater, where the 
scene was quite enlivening; the noble river tearing 
past us; carriages of various descriptions under the 
trees ; friends, that had accompanied friends to the 
steam-boat, in motion towards the city ; whilst on the 
deck of the vessel there was kissing of hands, waving 
of handkerchiefs, and stroking of beards (for there 
were several Turks on board) in token of farewell, 
a brisk wind and bright sunshine enlivening the whole. 

The Danube for several miles below Vienna pre¬ 
sents scenery of exactly the same character as for 

9 

some distance above, and is not very striking. The 


PRESBURG. 


21 


current is extremely rapid, and is interrupted by 
numerous islands and shallows, with a channel con¬ 
sequently very intricate. In about an hour and a 
half from Vienna we came to a range of low sandy 
cliffs on our right, with some peasants visible on the ridge 
in their broad-brimmed hats. We arrived at Presburg 
at about seven in the evening. Hotel (Drei Linden ) 
very indifferent. 

Presburg has the appearance of being populous, 
and the women are decidedly pretty. The cabarets 
were all quite thronged with men drinking and sing¬ 
ing. We here first met with the Hungarian language 
in inscriptions over the shop-doors and inn gateways. 
The Danube below Presburg is broken up into several 
branches, and a fine view of the river and neighbour¬ 
ing country is obtained from the ruined palace on 
the hill. Much might be said of the historical im¬ 
portance of Presburg, but the chief object of a journal 
is to adhere to what we actually see and can ourselves 
describe. 

Monday , July 26.—At six in the morning we left 
Presburg for Pesth by the steam-boat. We met on 
board a young Hungarian gentleman, who was on his 
way to the university at Pesth, and who spoke Eng¬ 
lish so perfectly that we mistook him for a fellow- 
countryman, and he seemed pleased at being told so. 

At a place called Komorn we took on board a 
singular and rough specimen of the Hungarian nobility. 
His appearance was that of a poverty-stricken way¬ 
farer, but our young Hungarian friend told us that 


22 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


he knew him to be noble, and that he consequently 
had a voice in the election of deputies. He added 
that there are two classes of noblemen, the magnates 
and the nobility, who elect the two deputies sent to 
the Diet by each of the fifty-two counties. The 
magnates are called occasionally to a separate chamber 
of their own, in the Diet House at Presburg, by the 
king in person. 

Soon after leaving Presburg we met a very large 
covered barge struggling upwards against the stream. 
It was drawn by sixty horses, driven by thirty barge¬ 
men, all shouting and cracking their whips. The 
towing rope was of an immense length. Several 
other barges, small by comparison, were lashed to 
the large one. I have no means of estimating its size, 
but it was much higher out of the water than our 
steamer, and was by no means inelegant in shape. 
We were told that these barges occupy six weeks 
in going up the river from Pesth to Vienna, whilst 
the steamer goes down the same distance in seventeen 
hours. 

Between Presburg, and Pesth we passed Komorn, 
Gran, with its unfinished cathedral, Vissegrad, and 
Waitzen. The rapidity of the river gradually di¬ 
minishes below Presburg. We arrived at Pesth at 
seven in the evening. Hotel (Queen of England) 
good, and close to the Danube, and to the bridge of 
boats between Pesth and Buda. 

Tuesday , July 27.—Visited the old Turkish baths 
at Buda. They are supplied by a natural hot sul- 


BUD A. 


23 


phureous spring, flowing out of the rock of the Blocks- 
berg. Here men and women of the lower classes 
were bathing together, nearly naked, in the same pool 
of hot water. Added to this, which was not a very 
agreeable sight, some had been cupping themselves, 
and the blood which lay about gave the place the 
appearance of a slaughter-house. . The water was 
perfectly clear, and for fear of seeming to intrude 
upon the bathers without an object, I took a large 
glass of the hot water from its source, and drank a 
portion of it. The atmosphere of the bath was exces¬ 
sively hot, but not close, nor was there any disagree¬ 
able smell. 

Afterwards we walked up to the observatory on 
the summit of the Blocksberg, from whence there is a 
very fine view of the two towns and the river between 
them, and the plains of Hungary. Here we saw a 
great number of fine swallow-tailed butterflies. 

We went to the Opera in the evening, and heard 
Rossini’s “ Otello” performed by a German company; 
an excellent box on the principal tier cost us eight 
shillings. The performance was more than respectable; 
the Desdemona had a fine voice, but it was she, and 
not Othello, who “ had fallen into the sere and yellow 
leaf.” The third act was judiciously curtailed, a 
practice which I have often wished was adopted else¬ 
where. 

Wednesday , July 28. — A bright hot sun, with a 
violent wind at N.N.W. The dust was insufferable, 
penetrating within doors, and covering every thing. 


24 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


We took courage, however, and walked over the Bridge 
of Boats to the opposite heights of Buda, from whence 
we saw the clouds of dust rising to a great height 
in the air over the houses of Pesth, and above the 
church-steeples. Visited the swimming school in the 
evening. 

Thursday , July 29. — At Pesth, in expectation of 
the arrival of the steam-boat from Semlim Walked 
about the Blocksberg and its neighbourhood. 

In the evening went to the swimming school, after 
which I visited the observatory on the summit of the 
Blocksberg. Professor Mayer was absent, but I was 
very kindly received by the Docteur Albert de Monte- 
Dego, the assistant astronomer, and we conversed 
together in Latin. The astronomical instruments are 
mounted on piers of porphyry from the mountains 
near Gran. 

Friday , July 30.—At Pesth. Went in the evening 
to the Opera of “ Belisario,” translated into the Hunga¬ 
rian language. It was well performed: the tenor was 
powerful, and but for a coarseness of style he would 
have been a fine singer. The Hungarian language, as 
far as we could judge, is very soft, and well adapted 
for singing. 

Saturday, July 31.—Took a long and hot walk 
about the environs of Pesth. Visited the palace of 
Count Karoli, which is a very handsome and con¬ 
venient nobleman’s residence. Many Hungarian noble¬ 
men, who are well known in England, possess houses in 
Pesth and Buda. 


PESTH. 


25 


LINES. 

Would’st thou survey a scene as bright 
As may on earth be found, 

Ascend the Blocksberg’s craggy height 
By star-eyed Science crowned. 

Thence with enraptured eye skim o’er 
Th’ immeasurable plain, 

Teeming for Hungary’s lords with store 
Of flocks, and herds, and grain. 

Then, turning towards the breezy west, 
Refresh the wearied sight 

With vine-clad slopes and wilder hills 
Enrobed in summer light. 

Below, white walls and glittering spires, 
Buda, and Pesth, are seen ; 

And Danube in unbroken flow 
Rolls deep and wide between ; 

But when the haunts of men are passed, 
Puts forth on either hand 

Two mighty arms to compass round 
And water all the land. 

And northwards by those floating mills, 
Two islands, side by side, 

With greenest thickets wooded o’er, 

Lie stemming Danube’s tide, 

That runs in narrow course between — 
Then, swift as thought can fly, 

I dream of woods and meadows green 
On Thames’s banks that lie. 


C 


26 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


“ 0, happy hills / 0 , pleasing shade ! 

O, fields beloved in vain ! 

Where once my careless childhood strayed, 
A stranger yet to pain.' 1 

Return, return ! inconstant thoughts ; 

What tricks doth memory play ! 
Forbear to mingle scenes like these 
With others far away. 

O Nature ! still, where’er I roam, 

Thee, goddess, I revere ; 

Then let me dwell on scenes of home, 
Less mighty, yet more dear. 

He thy best worshipper shall prove 
Who feels it pleasing pain, 

By leagues of earth and sea removed, 

To drag the lengthened chain. 


Sunday , August 1.—We left Pesth at four in the 
morning by the steamer for Drenkova. The vessel 
was crowded with passengers, and the weather very 
hot. The principal places we passed during the day 
were Foldvar, Tolna, Baia, and Mohacs. Baia in the 
last year was almost entirely destroyed by fire, but it 
is rising rapidly from its ashes. 

The character of the river is now quite altered: the 
banks are low, flat, and covered with woods; wild, 
untrodden, and, apparently, interminable. At Mohacs 
many of our fellow-passengers left the vessel, which 
was a great relief to us. We lay down at night upon 
extemporaneous beds made up in the cabin, and got 
as much sleep as the tender mercies of the fleas and 


PETERWARDEIN. 


27 


mosquitoes would allow. We had taken precaution, at 
Pesth, to manufacture some mosquito-nets of gauze, 
which we found of the most essential service. The 
bite of the mosquito is more painful than that of the 
common gnat, but I do not think it swells so much. 
A distressing malaria fever is very common on the 
low marshy wooded banks of the Danube. Pools of 
stagnant water are left in the swamps by the receding 
of the winter inundations, which, mixed with large 
quantities of putrid vegetable matter, make the climate 
at certain seasons very unhealthy. 

Monday , August 2.—On board the steamer. The 
same endless forests and wild ugly swamps. To-day 
we passed Voko.var, Illok, and the fortres^ of Peter- 
wardein, and at. night came to Semlin and Belgrade; 
they are both on the right bank of the Danube, but on 
opposite banks of the Save, which here falls into it. The 
Drave also falls into the Danube on the right, above Vo- 
kovar, and the Theiss on the left, below Peterwardein. 
The solitude of the banks of the river was only inter¬ 
rupted occasionally by the appearance of swarthy and 
savage-looking Hungarian peasants, and their wretched 
straggling dwellings. Another uncomfortable night on 
board the steamer. 

Tuesday , August 3.—Early in the morning we 
passed the ruined fortress of Semendria, and at about 
nine o’clock we entered, near Basiasch, a defile of high 
sandy hills, partially covered with stunted brushwood, 
with an eagle or two soaring magnificently over the 
heights. Further down the character of the hills 


28 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


closely resembled that of the South Downs, near 
Brighton. Several more eagles soon made their ap¬ 
pearance. Next came Moldova and the cave of Go- 
lumbacz ; and then, passing through a fine defile of the 
extreme Carpathian mountains, we came to Drenkova 
at about one o’clock. Here we embarked with our 
baggage on board a large rowing boat, as we had to 
pass the rapids, where there is not water enough for a 
steamer. The river being pretty full of water, the fury 
of the rapids was not so great as we had expected, and 
we were a little disappointed with their effect. 

Soon after passing the rapids we came to the 
famous defile of Kazan. The rocks here are of hard 
limestone, .peaked and precipitous, and the admixture 
of foliage is quite enchanting, heightened as the effect 
of the whole is by reflections from the surface of the 
river, which is here pent up and narrow, yet perfectly 
smooth and tranquil, and, therefore, very deep ; a 
complete contrast to the scene of the rapids above. 
When we reached the middle of the defile the sun left 
us, but still illuminated the rocky peaks, thus thrown 
brilliantly out on the deep azure ground of the sky 
behind them. The scene so novel, so tranquil, and so 
lovely, will ever remain in my memory. In the first 
part of the defile we met six small barges being towed 
up on the Servian bank by gangs of from ten to 
twenty Servians, who, wherever it is practicable, walk 
along the remaining track of Trajan’s towing-path, cut 
in the abrupt face of the rock. We could trace, here 
and there, for a long distance, the square holes in the 













































































/sis®® " r/ - 


ft£W YORK, S» 


r 













































































































ORSOVA. 


29 


rock, that were chiselled out by the Romans, into which 
beams of wood were inserted supporting a pathway of 
planks laid upon them and upon the ledge of the rock. 
Some of our party preferred what we sa\y to-day to the 
Wirbel and Strudel; for my own part, I still adhered 
to the superior magnificence of the river scenery 
between Linz and Vienna. 

Our whole party in the rowing-boat consisted of 
about twenty-five passengers, several of them Orientals; 
we were rowed by six men in the bow, and two in the 
stern ; one other acted as steersman. The rowers were 
wild-looking men, wearing high Dacian sheep-skin 
caps ; they pulled well together, with a paddling stroke, 
well calculated for a heavy boat, with bad short oars. 
At about eight at night we arrived at Orsova. Inn 
{the Hirsch ). 

Wednesday , August 4.—As we had to wait four 
days for the steamer, we drove over in the afternoon 
to the Baths of Mehadia. Let no one regret any 
delay that affords an opportunity of visiting them. 
Mehadia is about fourteen miles from Orsova; the 
drive is beautiful all the way, following a clear moun¬ 
tain-stream called the Czerna, which rises in the Car¬ 
pathians. At a few miles from Orsova, you pass, on 
the left hand, the ruins of an old Turkish aqueduct 
close to the road. 

Mehadia is beautifully situated in a deep gorge of 
the Carpathians; it somewhat resembles Matlock, but 
is on a much larger scale. The surrounding mountains 
are extremely steep, from about 2000 to perhaps 4000 


30 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


feet high ; and are all, with the exception of a few of 
the highest, clothed with wood to the very summit. 
The scenery is quite unlike what I had ever met with 
before : vastly inferior, indeed, to the Alps in scale, 
but very pleasing. The crags are tenanted by numbers 
of eagles which are constantly soaring about. We met 
on our road with a great number of parties of Austrian 
infantry on their way to Mehadia, where there are 
extensive barracks. The rough baggage-wagons drawn 
by oxen, the irregular march of the men, and the 
groups refreshing themselves under the trees, were 
picturesque in the extreme. 

When we arrived at Mehadia, the place was full 
of company, walking up and down, and staring out of 
the windows, but no one took any notice of us. We 
drove up to what seemed to be the best-looking house 
of entertainment; the door stood wide open, people 
in the dresses of all nations were loitering about, 
but there was no one that ostensibly belonged to the 
establishment. We entered, and after perambulating 
a very extensive passage, and calling about us without 
success, we at last entered a room where we found a 
grave-looking personage, with account-books before 
him, and officials with him, whom we took for the 
landlord, but he turned out to be the quartermaster; 
so we made our bow, and ended by obtaining lodg¬ 
ings elsewhere, fortunately in a clean state. All the 
houses in Mehadia appeared to be in connexion with 
one another, making up a large nondescript place of 
accommodation partaking of the nature of inn, board- 


MEHADIA. 


31 


ing-house, bath, and barrack. The house we first 
entered had been built for troops, but was now let out 
in lodgings. 

Thursday , August 5.—At Mehadia. Very heavy rain 
with thunder in the morning ; afterwards fine and hot; 
but owing to the rain our beautiful little river Czerna 
was swollen and muddy. Mehadia is the great place 
of resort for the higher classes of Hungarians and 
Wallachians; but the company is of all nations, and 
the variety of costumes gives the promenade the ap¬ 
pearance of a fancy ball. A military band of music 
plays morning and evening. The faces and costume 
of the female Wallachian peasants in and about Me¬ 
hadia are particularly attractive. 

Mehadia has some wonderful hot springs of both 
sulphureous and tasteless water. The hot tasteless 
spring rushes in a torrent out of the solid rock with 
a loud noise, and passing by a bathing-house, which it 
supplies, falls into the Czerna, very sensibly heating it 
for a considerable distance, from whence some idea 
may be formed of the great heat of the water at its 
source. The water from the sulphureous hot springs 
is received into a long range of bathing-houses, where 
baths may be taken of various degrees of strength 
and temperature. 

Here is also an extensive public bath for the poor 
and w r e saw the men and women nearly naked, bathing 
together in the same pool of sulphureous water, as 
at the old Turkish baths at Pesth, except that 
there was a wooden partition in the water, which 
separated the men from the women whilst immersed 


32 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


The length of time they remain in the water is very 
great; many were lying round the margin of the 
pool covered up with clothes to encourage perspira¬ 
tion after bathing. Besides these hot springs, Mehadia 
is abundantly supplied with excellent cold spring 
water. 

Friday , August 6. — Took a long walk about 
Mehadia. Nothing can exceed the beauty of the 
innumerable subjects for the pencil that present them¬ 
selves on all sides. On a tour like ours no one can 
sufficiently regret not being possessed of the inestimable 
talent of sketching. We noticed several English pointers 
about Orsova and Mehadia, probably belonging to 
Hungarian gentlemen.—Returned to Orsova in the 
evening. 

Saturday , August 7. — Orsova is a military village 
belonging to the Austrians, on the frontiers of Hun¬ 
gary, Wallachia, and Servia. The environs are in¬ 
teresting, and the view of the Danube and the im¬ 
mediately surrounding hills is extremely beautiful. 

In the market at Orsova we saw, for the first 
time, the sanatory regulations of quarantine in force. 
The Austrians have a quarantine against both Servians 
and Wallachians, and the Wallachians a quarantine 
against the Servians, so that the three nations cannot 
intermix. Arrangements are therefore made, and rules 
rigidly enforced, to prevent contact; and bargains 
are made aloud by the buyers and sellers across a 
double post and rail, and the goods purchased undergo 
certain fumigations, and the money that changes hands 
is passed in a ladle through vinegar by a proper officer. 


ORSOVA. 


33 


To-day at Orsova we saw two or three of the 
Austrian gun-boats which cruise up and down the 
Danube, Save, and Theiss. They appeared well ap¬ 
pointed, and were highly picturesque objects. Along 
the banks of the Danube, and near Orsova and Me- 
hadia, we saw many of the rude and solitary stations 
erected for the sentinels of the Austrian military 
frontier. This cordon is maintained by the inha¬ 
bitants of what are called the military provinces, 
every one of whom, under a certain age, is bound to 
serve so many days in the year, in return for grants of 
land from the government, and thus they are naturally 
led to mingle agricultural with military occupations. 
This living boundary was originally instituted as a 
defence against the incursions of the Turks, and now 
not only enforces the regulations of the customs and 
of quarantine, but performs the part of the antennae 
or feelers of government, extended to a distant part of 
the empire. Their union of military and agricultural 
habits accounts for the very picturesque and straggling 
march of the troops we saw between Orsova and 
Mehadia; yet had occasion required, they would 
instantly have formed into line with the most soldier¬ 
like precision. 

Sunday , August 8.—This morning at seven o’clock 
we bade farewell to Christendom, and were once more 
launched upon 


“ The wandering stream, 
Who loves the Cross, yet to the Crescent’s gleam 
Unfolds a willing breast.”—W ordsworth. 

c 2 


34 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


leaving Orsova by the flat-bottomed boat for Cla¬ 
dosnitza, which we reached in about two hours 
and a half. Just below Orsova is an island upon 
which stands a Turkish fortress, in a situation, as we 
thought, ill calculated to resist an attack made upon 
it from either bank of the river. The passage of the 
famous rapid called the Iron-gate is about a mile 
long, with a perpendicular fall, as we were informed, 
of fifteen feet. The bottom of the river is full of very 
hard sharp rocks, and the river foams and tosses 
throughout the whole distance in magnificent style, 
not without very dangerous whirlpools ; a slight error 
in steering might instantly cause a most serious 
accident. The scenery of the banks is not remark¬ 
able. At Cladosnitza we first set foot on quarantine 
ground. Here we got on board the steamer that 
was waiting for us in order to proceed down the river 
to Czernavoda. 

Soon after we reached the remains of the buttresses 
of the bridge thrown across the Danube by Trajan in a 
single summer. From what is now seen on Trajan’s 
column at Rome, the road over the arches appears 
to have been flat, as in our newest bridges. 

At Cladosnitza the whole scene on board the steamer 
assumed a more Oriental character; there were a great 
many Turkish and Greek passengers, and the sailors 
were Servians and Bulgarians. The German language 
was exchanged for Italian. This steamer was cleaner 
and better appointed than the one in which we came 
to Drenkova from Pesth. The customary request, 











Turks on board the Steamer. 


























. 







1 










































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’ 




















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CLADOSNITZA. 


35 


“not to talk to the steersman,” was written in English, 
modern Greek, Turkish, and Arabic. 

In about an hour from Cladosnitza we obtained a 
fine, though distant, view of the Carpathian mountains, 
and thought we could distinguish snow on some of the 
heights. 

Among our fellow-passengers there were three 
Jewesses and a very pretty Servian playing at domi¬ 
noes ; the Jewesses wore, strung round their necks 
and on their head-dresses, a great quantity of Austrian 
and Turkish gold coins; the Servian wore a Greek 
dress. They looked at one of our party with great 
interest, and were curious to examine the work she 
was about. The figures and dresses of the sailors, and 
the second-class passengers in the fore part of the 
vessel, amused us very much; several women scalding 
fowls, an old Turk sitting cross-legged cleaning knives, 
with other characters to us both new and enter¬ 
taining. 

The range of the Balkan mountains (the ancient 
Haemus) then appeared in the distance, and remained 
in sight until the close of the day, when the sun set 
over them in great splendour. In the course of the day 
we saw some flocks of pelicans white as driven snow. 
At about seven in the evening we arrived at Widdin, 
and heard, for the first time, the Muezzim’s call to 
evening prayer from the minarets of the mosques. At 
night the stars shone with great brilliancy, and it was 
perfectly calm, but by no means sultry ; it is, however, 
on nights like these that the fiend Malaria is abroad ; 


36 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


not riding the tempest, but coming “ with wicked dews 
brushed from unwholesome fens,” preceded by his vaunt 
courier the trumpeter Mosquito. 

In a shelf of books in the cabin, designed for the 
amusement of the passengers, I observed “ Sketches 
by Boz,” “ The Pickwick Papers,” and some of Mrs. 
Trollope’s most popular writings. These works be¬ 
coming standards of recreation on board a Danube 
steamer, outdoes Dr. Johnson’s finding a volume of 
his “ Rambler” in a cottage in the Hebrides, which 
he mentions with such exultation in his Tour, as 
being indeed popularity. Thus ended a novel and 
interesting day. 

Monday , August 9.—Came to the towns of Nico- 
polis, Sistova, and Rutzchuk; to the latter not until 
the evening. The outworks and the minarets of 
Rutzchuk have a fine effect as seen from the river, 
but on landing the meanness of the streets and houses 
is almost startling to one who enters a Turkish town 
for the first time. However it certainly is not so 
dirty and ill-conditioned as I had heard it represented 
to be. It is very populous, and not without com¬ 
mercial activity. The Danube is about three miles 
broad here, and we observed on the river a good 
class of boat, like that on the Thames about Wool¬ 
wich ; very different from the wretched tubs we had 
hitherto seen in use. The mosquitoes have all on a 
sudden ceased to torment us, but we cannot get rid 
of the fleas. Though touring for pleasure, we have 
been made acquainted with strange bedfellows.” Just 


CZERNAVODA. 


37 


out of the town of Rutzchuk I caught a beautiful 
sphinx moth, which, with the butterflies on the Blocks- 
berg, are the only insects of any beauty that we have 
met with. 

Tuesday , August 10. — At six in the morning the 
steamer reached Silistria, the capital of Bulgaria, and 
between ten and eleven o’clock we arrived at Czer- 
navoda. 

Czernavoda is a miserable-looking Bulgarian village, 
and does not afford the slightest accommodation for 
travellers. The Bulgarian banks of the river are 
generally rocky, and the neighbouring country wild, 
open, and arid. The Wallachian side is a dead flat 
of great extent, and a very unhealthy district. The 
thermometer stands at 95° in the shade, and this is 
the temperature we have been subjected to all the way 
from Orsova. There is a fine breeze blowing all day, 
but so drying that crumb of bread exposed to it 
becomes in half an hour as crisp as biscuit. One 
of our fellow-passengers, an English gentleman, brought 
out his gun ; he allowed me to take a shot with it, 
and I killed one of the small species of river gull; the 
bird fell into the stream, and a Bulgarian instantly 
stripped and plunged in after it. We observed that he 
struck with his arms as a dog strikes with his fore legs 
in swimming. 

In the meantime the steamer was being unloaded 
of its heavy baggage, which was packed on small 
wagons, each drawn by two oxen, and immediately 


38 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


forwarded overland to Kustanje. Several large fal¬ 
cons were hovering about the rocks, with now and 
then a flight of storks floating at a great height in the 
air. Some vultures, too, made their appearance over 
the brow of the hill, evidently, together with some 
wolf-like dogs, watching a Bulgarian skinning and cut¬ 
ting up a sheep that had just been killed on the shore. 
Turkish bo} 7 s swimming in the Danube, elder Turks 
performing their ablutions, and engaged in noon-day 
prayer with their faces turned towards Mecca, with the 
animated and busy scene of unloading the steamer, all 
under the beautifully blue sky and splendid sunshine. 
In the evening we all went on shore, and amused 
ourselves in various directions with guns, sketch-books, 
and whatever means we had, or could invent, of passing 
the time agreeably until dusk, when we returned to our 
steamer to sleep. 

At Czernavoda we bade farewell to the Danube, after 
a voyage down its stream of about 1200 miles, per¬ 
formed on the wings of steam in twenty-six days, inclu¬ 
ding seven days spent at Vienna, five at Pesth, and four 
at Orsova, so that we were ten days and nights on board. 
The Danube is of very nearly the same size as the 
Ganges, and is the largest river in Europe except the 
Volga. Its tributaries are not less than an hundred in 
number, of which a fourth part are navigable rivers. 
Throughout its whole course, from the Black Forest to 
the Black Sea, it is distinguished by classical and 
historical associations, although most of these are of a 




4 


CZERNAVODA. 


39 


less peaceful character than might beseem the annals 
of a river. Above Vienna its banks present the most 
beautiful and varied scenery imaginable; and there is 
something in the very rapidity of the stream, and the 
overpowering succession of objects during the first two 
days of the downward voyage from Ratisbon, that fills 
the mind with an agreeable perplexity, as if a lovely 
vision had passed away, upon which it was delightful to 
dwell. Below Vienna the interest in no respect falls 
off, and the scenes which at intervals present themselves 
are among the most striking to be found in Europe, 
replete with subject-matter and imagery for the 
artist and poet. There is also a gloomy grandeur, 
and a peculiar sublimity in the vast solitary tracts of 
swamp and forest on the banks of this mighty river ; 
regions ceded by man to the dominion of marsh 
exhalations, and to the mosquito, who says, “ My name 
is Legion.” 

Wednesday , August 11.—Early in the morning I 
took a farewell swim in the Danube, and at six o’clock 
we left Czernavoda for Kustenje, in light carriages, 
each drawn by four horses, driven by a postilion. 
The luggage had been forwarded overnight by one of 
the bullock-wains. Czernavoda is rather more than 
forty miles from Kustenje, and we went the whole 
distance with the same horses, stopping three times, 
twice for a very few minutes, and once for an hour and 
a half. The whole journey was performed in less than 
seven hours, including the stoppages. The horses 


40 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


were small and active, and were driven at a gallop 
nearly all the way. They did not appear to suffer in 
the least from the pace, or from the heat of the sun, 
and arrived quite fresh at Kustenje. 

There was no regularly made road, and our route 
lay over an undulating prairie country, such as I had 
never seen before, frequently without a bush or a tree 
within sight. The soil was light and sandy, with coarse 
grass, thistles, and brushwood. We noticed a great 
quantity of different sorts of birds; vultures, large 
hawks, storks, and some birds not unlike partridges; 
and on some swampy, unhealthy-looking lakes which 
we passed there were multitudes of pelicans, beautifully 
white in the morning sun, with wild ducks, geese, 
coots, bitterns, and herons, and great quantities of the 
common plover. We also passed by the sites of two or 
three Bulgarian villages that had been destroyed by the 
Russians, marked only by the rude tomb-stones of the 
unfortunate inhabitants. There were also in the plain 
some large herds of the common buffalo, which are 
here in very general use as beasts of draught, and 
troops of horses running wild. 

One of the lakes that we passed by was very 
striking. It was backed by low grey limestone cliffs, 
and was nearly covered over with weed of a bright 
reddish-browm colour, but in one corner or bay the 
surface of the water lay smooth as a mirror, and 
reflected the blue sunny sky with amazing brilliancy, 
whilst the banks were surrounded with large patches of 



























































































































I 








































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* ' 









































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. 1 V 











KUSTENJ&. 


41 


tall reeds of a vivid green. We overtook the baggage- 
wains that had left Czernavoda the previous evening 
about ten miles from Kustenje, at which place we 
arrived early in the afternoon. 

Kustenje is finely situated on a small promontory 
overlooking the Black Sea; it was once a flourishing 
town, but is now in a very ruined state, having been 
nearly destroyed by the Russians. It boasts of some 
antiquity; fragments of marble columns and rich 
remains of Roman structures are met with among the 
ruins, and the sound of its ancient name, Constantina, 
still lurks in its modern appellation. 

The house we went to afforded much better accom¬ 
modation than we had expected. It belongs to the 
Danube Steam Company, who rebuilt it, and fitted it up 
in a humble way for the accommodation of their pas¬ 
sengers. There were two regular beds, but we all, 
chiefly for fear of the insects, preferred sleeping on the 
simple divans or sofas belonging to the rooms, and 
passed the night with very tolerable comfort. Mr. 
Marenovitch, the Company’s agent, who came with us 
from Czernavoda, presided over all the arrangements 
with the greatest civility and attention. 

The route by land from Czernavoda to Kustenje 
has been only recently adopted by the Company. The 
alternative is to persevere from Czernavoda down the 
Danube to Galatz, and there to get on board another 
steamer which goes by the Soulineh mouth of the 
Danube into the Black Sea, and so to Constantinople; 
but the journey is now shortened by 200 miles, and 


42 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


exposure to the mosquitoes and the unwholesome swamps 
of Galacz is avoided. 

Several of our party, as well as myself, were here 
attacked by low fever and great depression, but we 
recovered in a day or two. I am happy to say that 

G-’s health and spirits never suffered in the 

least. 

Thursday, August 12.—The Ferdinand steamer 
from Constantinople having arrived in the night, we 
looked forward towards speedily getting away from 
Kustenje. However, w r e were alarmed by a report 
that news having arrived of the occurrence of a case of 
plague at Constantinople, from whence our vessel had 
just arrived, the Kustenje authorities would not allow 
the steamer to take us on board, as that implied com¬ 
munication with the shore. Mr. Marenovitch, how¬ 
ever, managed to overrule this difficulty, and we 
embarked once more, for the last time before reaching 
Constantinople. Had we not succeeded in embarking 
from Kustenje, we should have had to retrace our steps 
by land to Czernavoda, and re-embark on board the 
steamer we left there, and so proceed to Galacz, and 
wait there in great discomfort until the Ferdinand 
could have come round to meet us by the mouth of the 
river. On the whole we had fine weather for our voyage, 
but there was enough wind to make the vessel roll a 
great deal, to the practical illustration of Byron’s well- 
known couplet respecting the billows of the Euxine. 

Friday , August 13.—At about ten o’clock in the 
morning we quitted “the vast encincture of that 



CONSTANTINOPLE. 


43 


gloomy sea,” and entered the Bosphorus, passing the 
classical Symplegades on our right. 

The charms of the scenery of the Bosphorus cannot 
easily be exaggerated. Hills, forts, towers, and vil¬ 
lages, appear in succession, whilst its bays and w indings 
endow it with the several beauties of river, lake, and 
sea. The water is of transparent purity, and of the 
most beautiful azure colour. A large shoal of por¬ 
poises accompanied us for several miles, gambolling 
and leaping into the air from wave to wave, and 
we could distinctly see them when darting along 
beneath the surface, though the water w T as far from 
being smooth. Nothing could be more delightful than 
our transition from a tumbling sea to the swift current 
of this beautiful strait, that bore us down through 
scenes so novel, so interesting, and so intrinsically 
beautiful, to a city equally celebrated in ancient and 
modern times. 

The minarets of Constantinople now came in sight, 
and much sooner than we expected we found ourselves 
at anchor in the Golden Horn. Just as we arrived, the 
Sultan was embarking to cross the Bosphorus, on his 
way to a mosque on the Asiatic side, it being Friday, 
the Moslem Sabbath. The officers of state accom¬ 
panied him in their caiques: it was a gorgeous and 
animated spectacle ; and the thunders of the salutes 
from the ships of war, gaily decked out with ensigns 
and streamers, seemed to bid us welcome to the waters 
of the Bosphorus, and to the full enjoyment of the 
celebrated view of the Imperial city, or rather three 


44 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


cities in one; Constantinople and the Seraglio point 
on our right, Pera on our left, with Scutari on the 
Asiatic side; palaces, mosques, and their minarets ; 
cypress-trees, towers, and shipping; sky, water, and 
sunshine, all blending and harmonising together. 

In due course of time we left our steamer, and 
transferring ourselves and baggage to the light caiques 
of the Turkish boatmen, we landed, and walked over a 
pavement, that must be seen and felt to be imagined, 
up the apparently interminable ascent of Pera, and 
along its principal street to the Hotel (Belle Vue), 
where we established ourselves very much to our 
satisfaction. 

But something ludicrous is very apt to intrude itself 
upon the most charming illusions. We were sitting in 
all the pride and freshness of our arrival in an Eastern 
city, enjoying the brilliant evening and the view of Con¬ 
stantinople, thinking that every sight and sound must 
be equally new, when suddenly we were regaled by the 
popular air of “ Jemiy Jones,” with several others of the 
same class, most sonorously played on the key-bugle ; 
at intervals we heard loud voices, and the English 
Shibboleth so plainly pronounced as to satisfy us of 
what nation the musician and his companions w r ere. 

We had now been travelling and seeing new places 
for exactly seven weeks, without having experienced 
any serious fatigue, and with scarcely an hour’s indis¬ 
position ; and, I trust, upon that evening we did not 
hear with indifference the voices of the Muezzims 
calling all the city to prayer. 


CONSTANTINOPLE. 


45 


Saturday , August 14. —Walked about the hot, 
steep, and cruelly paved streets of Pera and Galata. 
The town, now that the weather is dry, is very tolerably 
clean ; thanks also to the dogs, hawks, and vultures, 
who are the scavengers of the place ; and although the 
heat is great, yet there is throughout the day an agree¬ 
able air from the Bosphorus. We were rowed about 
in the evening in caiques, and walked home after we 
were set on shore, making a little round by the ce¬ 
metery of Pera. 

Sunday , August 15.—In the morning crossed over 
to Constantinople to visit the slave-market. The slaves 
that are exposed here for sale are chiefly black females, 
who are bought by the Turkish ladies as household 
servants. They are generally well treated, and suffer 
no ills but those which all servitude is heir to. We 
noticed a few white women, and a few black boys, to 
be disposed of. We walked round the market under a 
covered way, and saw through lattices a great many 
slaves in rooms set apart for their reception. Some 
were already equipped with the Turkish dress, and 
seemed to have the liberty allowed them of walking in 
and out of the apartment. They did not appear at all 

unhappy. They looked very attentively at G-, 

and, as we passed by, they smiled and seemed to have 
their joke among themselves. There were, however, 
in the middle of the market some wretched-looking 
meagre objects, lately arrived from Nubia, leaning 
against the walls half asleep in the sun, or squatting on 
the ground, ridding one another of vermin. They had 



46 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


nothing but the coarsest possible drapery of sackcloth 
thrown over them, and yet they contrived to wear it 
not ungracefully. 

From thence we walked by the Mosques of Sultan 
Achmet and of St. Sophia, and visited the obelisks and 
Brazen Column in the Atmeidan. We returned home 
to Pera, and I took a Turkish bath, which I found 
extremely agreeable. 

You undress leisurely on a sofa, in a cool airy part 
of the building, and a blue cotton cloth is wrapped 
round your middle so as to form a sort of petticoat; 
you are then conducted into a room, the atmosphere 
of which is very hot, without being close or stifling : 
water hot and cold is supplied from marble fountains, 
and runs in channels along the stone floor; here ypu 
remain, and the perspiration soon runs off the skin 
.in large drops: if you can bear it you are conducted 
from hence into an apartment still hotter, and shortly 
an attendant arrives who throws a bowl or two of 
water over you from the marble fountain, and then 
proceeds to lather you from head to foot with soft 
soap, at the same time gently rubbing and kneading 
the joints and muscles. After this you are again 
rinsed thoroughly with water, and are reconducted 
to your sofa, where you are carefully dried, wiped, 
and kneaded as before, and are left covered up, with a 
cloth wrapped round your head, turban-fashion. Here 
you remain half an hour or more in a delicious and 
tranquil reverie, to enjoy a pipe if you choose it, and 
inhale the fresh air of the apartment, and drink iced 


THE BOSPHORUS. 


47 


lemonade or sherbet; this may sound as if it were a 
dangerous process, but it is the received custom to do so, 
and I suppose it allays beneficially the ferment raised 
in the circulation by the bath. The process through¬ 
out is agreeable, and leaves no subsequent lassitude, 
but rather confers a sensation of power to resist the 
heat of the climate. 

After dinner we walked to the cemetery of Pera, 
and enjoyed a most lovely view of the Bosphorus. On 
one side was the setting sun, and in the opposite 
quarter of the sky a dark storm of rain that cast a 
deep purple blush over the water, throwing a large 
ship of war as she lay at anchor out into bold relief 
fine dusky hills on the Asiatic side, with the faint out-* 
line of Olympus in the distance. > 

Monday , August 16.— Received a visit from Mr* 
•Cartwright, the English consul. In the afternoon ini 
caiques to Scutari on the Asiatic side of the Bos-' 
phorus. 

Scutari is a large and ancient town, though con¬ 
sidered as a sort of suburb of Constantinople : the 
principal street is wider than any we have yet seen 
in Constantinople or Pera, and the mosques and public 
fountains are beautiful; the cemetery is held in great 
veneration by the Turks ; it is very extensive, and 
adorned with vast groves of large and antique cypress- 
trees. 

In the course of our walk w r e bought some excellent 
sweetmeats at a confectioner’s shop, and seeing a 
pretty little girl of about seven years old standing by, 


48 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


I offered her some, but she looked at me very gravely 
as if I had affronted her, and ran away half frightened* 
There were quantities of the most delicious grapes for 
sale in the streets, and we bought a large basket full, 
but it was evident that we were not looked upon as 
desirable customers. It is generally observed that the 
inhabitants of Scutari do not take much pains to con¬ 
ceal their dislike of the Franks. 

The current of the Bosphorus is always strong, and 
w r hen we returned the wind freshened. This afforded 
us an opportunity of seeing how admirably the Turkish 
boatmen manage their caiques. They use sculls very 
much overhanded, and when there are two or more 
scullers, they pull powerfully and well together. The 
caiques are most elegantly formed, very light, with 
sides rather high out of the water. The sitters recline 
in the bottom, in order that the weight may be kept as 
low as possible. When first set afloat in one, you are 
tempted to exclaim with the Bard, 

“ And now I have a little boat, 

In shape a very crescent moon 1” 

It is quite surprising how in windy weather they ride 
over the swell of the Bosphorus, and when it is calm with 
what ease and rapidity they glide along. The Golden 
Horn, in particular, is throughout the day enlivened 
with hundreds of them of all descriptions in motion in 
every direction, from the caique of the poor boat¬ 
man whose fare across is half a piastre, to the private 
caique of the rich Turk, decked out with golden- 


CONSTANTINOPLE. 


49 


fringed scarlet or blue draperies, and the rowers in 
their full-sleeved shirts and Greek caps, and the 
Pasha himself, with his chibouk, reclining majestically 
in the stern. 

Tuesday , August 17.—We went shares with an¬ 
other party of English in the expense of a Firman, 
by virtue of which we gained admittance to the 
Mosques, and to the Seraglio palace, the Sultan 
being now resident at one of his summer palaces 
on the Bosphorus. The Seraglio, at a very rough 
guess, stands upon not less than fifty acres of 
ground, and I have heard its circuit estimated at 
three miles. From without you are agreeably be¬ 
wildered by the domes and minarets, and the whole 
style of the architecture mingling so beautifully with 
the noble cypress-trees ; but when within the courts, 
or inside the apartments, you are occupied chiefly by 
the general idea of great spaciousness, rather than by 
any particular attractions that they offer, and are not 
sorry to look out of the windows upon the lovely 
prospects of the Bosphorus which they command. 

In many of the rooms there was a profusion of 
really handsome gilding; but the Turkish customs 
do not admit of the European style of furniture, 
and from the nakedness of the apartments I thought 
it very likely that many such articles as rich carpets 
and ottomans are removed from palace to palace with 
the court. In one immense room we saw a very 
small table in bad French taste, and a few of the 
common French artificial bouquets under glass shades. 

D 


50 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


But the arrangement of the bath-rooms, with their 
fountains and pavements of marble, was quite de¬ 
licious. The few attendants that we saw about the 
palace were in their ugly modern dress, and looked 
dirty and ill-conditioned. The gardens are not ex¬ 
tensive, but are beautiful, and Avell watered, and 
contain many plants growing in the open air, which in 
England are seen only in hot-houses. Works of art, 
pictures, and statues, are not to be met with in the 
Seraglio, but perhaps it is a relief now and then to 
visit a palace that does not possess them. It is the 
general effect produced by the whole, aided by blue 
water, sky, and sunshine, that repays you for the 
exertions of the day. 

We then were indulged with a sight of the interior 
of the great Mosque of St. Sophia, of that called the 
little St. Sophia, and of the Mosques of Sultan Ahmed, 
and of Sultan Solyman ; but on entering we were obliged 
to take off our shoes, and put on thin slippers, or walk 
barefoot. We were agreeably surprised by their mag¬ 
nificent dimensions, and their fine general barbaric 
effect. The interior of the dome of St. Sophia is fif¬ 
teen feet wider across than the dome of St. Paul’s, and 
is one mass of gilt mosaic work ; and its exterior is 
surmounted by a magnificent gilt crescent, the dimen¬ 
sions of which I have heard very variously stated. 
The other mosques are not quite so large, but are, per¬ 
haps, as well worth seeing from their unmixed style of 
oriental architecture. Innumerable silver lamps and 
ostriches’ eggs are suspended from the domes of them 


CONSTANTINOPLE. 


51 


all. No detailed description of these truly wonderful 
edifices could be kept within any reasonable bounds. 
It was just the hour of noon when we entered St. 
Sophia, and as soon as the voice of the Muezzira 
(himself unseen) rang with thrilling power through the 
entire building, all the true believers present prostrated 
themselves to the earth. I never witnessed a more 
striking spectacle. We brought away with us some 
broken pieces of the mosaic work of the roof, which 
were offered to us for a few piastres. 

In the Mosque of Sultan Ahmed we saw a kind 
of reading school for young lads, who were being 
educated, as we were informed, as Imaums or priests. 
They were reading the Koran out loud, in concert 
with their teacher, in a noisy, chanting, irreverent 
tone. When they concluded, all that were present 
rose up except one, a strange-looking figure, who per¬ 
sisted in remaining with his book open before him, 
which they at length took away from him, and he 
then got up and stalked away with the self-important 
gestures of insanity. He was described to us as a wander¬ 
ing Dervish, and reputed mad, which greatly enhanced 
his sanctity. Before quitting the Mosque we saw a 
Frenchman, who was of our party, carelessly spit upon 
the pavement; we immediately called his attention to 
what he had done, for had the Turks observed it, we 
should probably all have got into trouble, and he would 
certainly have been most severely punished. I men¬ 
tion this circumstance because there will be occasion 
to allude to it again. 

I then hurried back to Pera to see the Mewlewli 


52 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


or Dancing Dervishes. The meeting was held in a 
place of worship of their own, with a kind of circus in 
the midst, with a very smooth floor. I counted four¬ 
teen Dervishes prostrate round the circle; the chief 
knelt on his carpet opposite the entrance, and was 
engaged audibly in prayer, to which the rest from 
time to time made responses. The chief had on a 
skyeblue robe, and a thick felt cap of a light brown 
colour, in the shape of a truncated cone, bound round 
with a green scarf. The rest wore the high cap with¬ 
out any decoration, and long robes of dark hues. 
When the chief made an end of his prayer, a Dervish in 
the gallery began a very loud chant, whilst the whole 
company, headed by the chief, paraded twice or thrice 
round the room, with their arms crossed upon their 
breasts, the inferior brethren making profound obeisances 
as they passed the carpet on which their chief had 
been seated. Then began a low wild melancholy 
strain, without any distinct melody, but not unpleasing, 
performed on a flageolet and flute; this continued for 
about ten minutes. The Dervishes then once more 
prostrated themselves with their faces to the earth. 
A small drum then sounded, upon which the Dervishes 
rose up and let fall their outward robes, appearing 
in short white jackets, and long white coarse petticoats 
that trailed on the floor; their feet were bare. The 
music then struck up again, accompanied by a loud 
noisy chant, and every Dervish, except the chief and 
one other, who acted some intermediate part, began a 
alow, solemn, rotatory movement, or dance, with their 
arms held out horizontally, their revolutions throwing 


Dancing Dervishes. 





































CONSTANTINOPLE. 


53 


out the white petticoat into a conical shape, with the 
border steadily i.‘ ating a few inches above the floor. 
This continued without intermission for a quarter ol 
an hour: the Dervishes then ceased their revolution*, 
and repeated the obeisances, and then once more 
resumed the dance for another quarter of an hour, 
accompanied by the music and song as before. The 
ceremony closed with a dying fall in the music 
pleasingly managed, and before the last devotees had 
ceased to turn round, the friction of the bare feet upon 
the floor was plainly heard. There is something 
almost touching in the quiet and composed demeanour 
of the chief and his followers; and the entire absence 
of any appearance of fatigue or giddiness on the part 
of the performers in this extraordinary ceremony is 
quite surprising. 

Wednesday , August 18.—In caiques to Therapia, 
to visit Mr. and Mrs. Bankhead. In the afternoon we 
crossed the Bosphorus from thence, and ascended the 
hill called the Giant’s Mountain, from whence the view 
is really superb. You look one way to the Black 
Sea, and in the opposite direction down the wind¬ 
ings of the Bosphorus to the Sea of Marmora, 
with Olympus in the distance. We returned to 
Therapia to our friends, and slept that night at the 
little inn. 

Thursday , August 19. — Bathed in the Bosphorus. 
Walked and rode about Therapia and its neighbour¬ 
hood : the scenery is beautiful at every turn : slept a 
second night at the inn. 


54 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


Friday , August 20. — Returned by water to Pera 
from Therapia; the wind blew fresh and there was more 
sea than was agreeable in a caique. On our way to 
Pera we stopped at the Sweet Waters, a delightful 
place of public resort on the Asiatic side of the 
Bosphorus. Here we saw a great many arabas or 
carriages, profusely gilt, drawn by oxen or horses, 
with richly ornamented harness; they were filled 
with women and children. We caught glimpses of 
some very pretty faces among the women, who for 
the benefit of the air had loosened the asmacks of 
white muslin which usually envelope their necks and 
faces, but we were quickly warned off to a respectful 
distance by the guard. The children were very 
pretty, with dark eyes and hair, and handsomely 
dressed in a costume peculiarly becoming to child¬ 
hood. 

Some of the Turkish ladies got out of their 
carriages and walked about; others sate still eating 
sweetmeats or fruit, or taking coffee; one elderly lady 
I saw enjoying her pipe very comfortably. The 
feridjee, or loose cloak, conceal their figures entirely. 

G- and her maid went amongst them, and they 

asked her all manner of questions in a sort of lingua 
Franca, and wished to see her take off her bonnet, 
and begged her to take the front combs out of her 
hair. Though as inquisitive as children, they were 
gracious and ladylike, and offered her coffee and what¬ 
ever they had with them; they were waited upon as 
usual by black female slaves. 














































. 















THE BOSPHORUS. 


55 


There were besides several family groups enjoying 
themselves under the trees, seated upon their bright 
coloured carpets, with their yellow slippers ranged 
in order round. There were also several Turks of 
rank on beautifully caparisoned Arabians, with boys 
on ponies; asses for hire with scarlet housings, 
conjurors, vendors of fruit, lemonade, sherbet, water, 
and sweetmeats ; every thing, in short, that the de¬ 
scription of place was likely to afford, but new and 
interesting to us. To complete the picture, the shore 
was lined with the caiques of the company, assembled 
from various parts of the Bosphorus, with their gaily 
dressed rowers lying on their oars. 

Saturday , August 21.—Mr. L- F-very 

unwell. Went to the leather Bazar in Constantinople, 
and from thence to the madhouse, which is divided 
into two spacious courtyards: in the first we were 
shewn, much to our surprise, some wild beasts in 
large dark dens, by way, I suppose, of preparing us 
for what we were soon to see ; accordingly in the next 
court we saw the patients, about twelve in number, all 
confined by very strong iron chains and collars round 
their necks ; their cells were large, but neither paved 
nor floored, and seemed as if they must be very cold 
at night, even in summer. They were all more or less 
clothed, though rudely enough, and their persons were 
not wholly neglected. One poor wretch who was 
about to undergo a washing was a pitiable spectacle ; 
he was quite naked, with the iron chain and collar 
still about his neck, and his body disfigured with bites 




56 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


of vermin ; and as he sat on the ground in this con¬ 
dition, with his bare shaven head, he was no inapt 
representative of Job in his affliction. We noticed but 
one very noisy patient. There was an Arab patient 
with only a rough blanket thrown over him, sitting 
in the furthest window of his cell, with the sun streaming 
in through the bars over his dark features, laughing 
and conversing with a visitor ; such a study for a 
painter I scarcely ever saw before. Two others 
in opposite parts of the same cell had been smoking, 
and were now throwing their cherry-stick pipes at 
one another; another, whose arm was bound up as 
if severely injured, had, as they told us, twice broken 
his chain. We were given to understand, I know not 
how truly, that it was permitted to irritate the patients 
to frenzy, as though their ravings were oracular, and 
the effect of divine inspiration. Any one within the 
court had free access to the cells and to the patients. 
We were rather surprised at not feeling more shocked 
at a spectacle which we should probably have 
shuddered at had we heard it described as we saw it. 
Possibly the preconceived idea of happiness or of 
misery generally outstrips the reality. 

We continued our walk to the desolate site of the 
barracks of the exterminated Janissaries; the whole 
quarter is in a most ruinous condition; we there saw 
a beautiful marble fountain quite dried up and dis¬ 
figured ; the truest emblem of desolation. We then 
came to a single column apparently of late architecture, 
with the Roman eagle at each of the four corners of 


CONSTANTINOPLE. 


57 


the Capital. From thence we made our way to the 
Historical Column, or, as it is sometimes called, the 
Column of Honorius and Arcadius; the base alone 
is standing, and is in a very ruinous condition : the 
column fell down about 1716, two years before Lady M. 
W. Montague came to Constantinople. We ascended 
the remaining steps of the winding staircase which 
once, I conclude, conducted to the summit of the 
column, and found a small chamber withinside the 
base. The whole seems to have been constructed of 
white marble; some of the blocks were extremely 
large; we measured one of them in a very rough 
way, and estimated its bulk at about 200 cubic 
feet; there were other larger blocks, but out of our 
reach. 

Sunday , August 22.—In the afternoon we went in 
a caique to the Sweet Waters of Europe, on the 
banks of the river Lycus which runs into the 
Golden Horn. There was a very high wind, and we 
quarrelled with our boatman, and found no company 
when we arrived. Here there is a pretty summer kiosk 
belonging to the Sultan. 

Monday , August 23. — Made purchases in the 
bazars, and dined in Constantinople on kabob, which 
is a genuine Turkish dish, and very good; it consists 
of mutton cut into small pieces, broiled on skewers, 
and served up on large flat cakes resembling crumpets. 
On our return we saw the smoke of a fire in a distant 
part of the city, and saw the fire-signal hanging from 
the Seraskier’s tower. 

Tuesday , August 24.—L-F-rather better. 

d 2 



58 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


Called on Mr. Hanson, the banker. Took another 
Turkish bath. Dancing Dervishes again at two o’clock. 

Wednesday, August 25.—Rode with F- to see 

the old walls of Constantinople; it is a curious and in¬ 
teresting round to take, with some fine points of view. 
On our way thither we passed under the Aqueduct of 
Valens, which is a stupendous work, and still conveys 
water; but without the assistance of natural scenery, 
aqueducts are rarely beautiful objects. 

In the course of our ride we saw several hoopoes, 
birds which I never before saw on wing: they are 
frequently sold in the streets as articles of food. Soon 
afterwards we passed by the smoking ruins of above 
an hundred houses that had been destroyed by the fire 
last Monday ; however, this is but a small number for a 
Turkish fire to consume. 

As we returned we met a Greek funeral. The 
corpse was carried on an open bier, strewed with 
flowers, and its face exposed. The Bible was laid 
upon its breast. Two boys followed with lighted 
candles, with priests, friends, and mourners, chanting 
a dirge. We rode home by the Bazars, and crossed 
the Golden Horn by the bridge of boats, and so 
through the cemetery to Pera. 

Thursday , August 26.—Grand review at Scutari. 
This review, we were informed, was the first that had 
taken place in the present Sultan’s reign, and the se¬ 
cond only since the adoption of the European military 
systems and dress. There were about 8000 troops 
reviewed; light and heavy cavalry and artillery, and 
large columns of infantry. The light cavalry regiment 



CONSTANTINOPLE. 


59 


of lancers looked well in a body ; and the red Fez or 
bonnet with its deep blue tassel, and the red pennon of 
the lance above, presented, when viewed in a mass, a 
surface tinted like the flower of the cactus. Indi¬ 
vidually, men, arms, and accoutrements were very 
shabby. There were no scabbards to the bayonets, and 
much cannot be said of the manoeuvring of the troops. 
The artillery practice, however, was very creditable. 
The review took place on a fine tract of undulating 
open country with mountains in the distance: the sea 
of Marmora, the Bosphorus, Constantinople, and the 
cypress-crowned cemeteries of Scutari filling up the 
view. The Sultan, preceded by a guard, and the 
officers of his household, came on the ground in an 
odd, but picturesque carriage, with a body of the shape 
of a sedan chair, richly gilt, with a crimson hammer- 
cloth, and drawn by four beautiful white horses. He 
was followed by his mother, and the foreign ministers, 
in carriages, and by the chief officers of state superbly 
mounted on Arabians. We obtained a very good view 
of the Sultan’s features: he is much marked with the 
small-pox, but has fine dark eyes. 

Here were also several very handsome arabas filled 
with the women of the imperial harem, but they were 
closely veiled, and the guard kept all spectators at a 
respectful distance. The arabas were drawn by white 
oxen of great size and beauty, with handsome frontlets, 
md long bent pieces of wood curved backwards from 
neir yokes, to which the tails of the animals were 
attached with pendant bells, tassels, and ribands. 


GO 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


Presently we heard a report that a Frank had got 
into a dispute with the Turks, and that he had been 
severely beaten, and dragged to Scutari as a prisoner, 
between two horse-soldiers, and that in all probability 
he would undergo the bastinado. The account had 
been, as usual, exaggerated; but it was true that he had 
been beaten, and he kept his bed in consequence for 
some days. One of our party went to visit him, and 
he proved to be the very Frenchman who had accom¬ 
panied us to the mosques, and who spat upon the 
sacred pavement. We never heard the origin of the 
quarrel on the day of the review; but it is clear that 
a man who could commit so gross an inadvertency as 
he did on one occasion, might be supposed to have 
acted not very wisely on another. On our return 
we bought another basket of the delicious grapes of 
Scutari. 

Friday , August 27.—Saw the Sultan go to Mosque 
on horseback, attended by the grand vizier and officers 
of state. We then, by a short cut, got up the hill 
before the cavalcade, to a place where the road wound 
round the ascent, and again secured a good position 
together with several Turks who had petitions to 
present, which were all received in order by the ap¬ 
pointed officer as the Sultan passed by. The Sultan’s 
saddle-horses, of which several were led, and those of 
his officers, were of the greatest beauty. 

Saturday , August 28.—Again to the slave-market, 
which had a livelier appearance than when we 
visited it before. The greater part of the slaves were 


CONSTANTINOPLE. 


61 


black females. We saw some miserable-looking ob¬ 
jects amongst the black little girls, and one black lad 
quite naked was being rubbed in the hot sun all over 
with oil, which gave him a most attractive polish. 
But we were delighted to see some dishes of hot 
potatoes and garlic, which a man was carrying on his 
head, upset in the crowd, and the little hungry black 
wretches scrambling for them. This place, notwith¬ 
standing the dirt of it, abounds, like every other 
corner of Constantinople, with interesting studies for 
painters. 

We then went to look round us once more in the 
Bazars, and whilst there we heard the report of “ Fire 
in Pera!” Upon this we lost no time in making the 
best of our way homewards, together with a crowd of 
Jews, Armenians, and others, who closed their shops in 
the Bazars, and hurried away to save their property in 
their dwelling-houses. We got across the water in the 
midst of unusual bustle, and rushed up the hill of Pera, 
which is not the pleasantest or easiest ground in the 
world to hurry over. We found that the fire was not 
far from our hotel, but that it was being rapidly got 
under. I saw one small brass fire-engine which could 
scarcely be of any service hurried along through the 
crowd on men’s shoulders towards the scene of action. 
But the brigade of firemen wore workmanlike dark 
dresses, and were armed with powerful axes, and very 
long poles with iron hooks and spikes at the end, 
intended to be used if necessary in pulling down the 
houses adjoining the fire, so as to smother it in rubbish. 


62 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


However, it was soon extinguished, and when all alarm 
had subsided, we re-crossed the water to the Bazars; 
but on our way home we again heard the report of 
“ Fire !”—this time at Constantinople. But happening 
to call on our way home at a perfumer’s with whom we 
had had some bargainings in the early part of the day, 
we found him hastily shutting up his shop and hurrying 
off to the scene of the conflagration, which was near 
his residence, just as we had ourselves hurried away to 
Pera in the morning. This was quite in the spirit of 
the lines — 

“ Fire on the quarter-deck, 

Fire on the bow ; 

Fire in the main-top, 

Fire down below! ’ ’ 

Sunday , August 29.—Dancing Dervishes at their 
convent at Cassim Pasha. I went rather in expectation 
of some ceremony different from that which I had 
already witnessed at Pera, but was disappointed. I 
here saw a very little boy, quite a child, running about 
in the dress of a Dervish. The high conical cap gave 
him a most ludicrous appearance. When the ceremony 
began, the poor child went through the prostrations 
and reverences exactly with the rest. But I was glad 
to see that he soon grew tired, and put on his slippers, 
and went out to play with others of his own age. 

In the afternoon we rode round by the bridge of 
boats to the aqueduct of Valens, and to the walls as 
before, and outside the city to the suburb of Eyoub. 
Eyoub or Job, the standard-bearer of Mahomet, was 


CONSTANTINOPLE. 


63 


killed by the Saracens, and buried there. Hence 
Eyoub is considered by the Turks as a most sacred 
place of burial; here, also, is their most sacred mosque, 
where the Sultans are inaugurated by girding on the 
sword of Othman. The Turks do not much like the 
Franks to approach the place. The cemeteries here 
are kept in good order, and the tombs are covered 
with ivy and creepers under the shade of lofty trees. We 
then ascended the hill, and obtained a superb view of 
Constantinople and the Golden Horn. We rode from 
thence along the brow of the hill looking down upon 
the European Sweet Waters, and in a valley near the 
Sultan’s kiosk, saw an encampment of Turkish artillery, 
to which we descended, and then crossed the hills to 
Pera. 

Mojiday , August 30.—To Therapia a second time. 

In the afternoon with Colonel H- to the gigantic 

plane trees in the Sultan’s Valley, the Valley of Roses, 
and the village of Buyukdere. Dined and slept 
at Therapia. 

Tuesday , August 3T—From Therapia to the aque¬ 
ducts by Belgrade and Purgos, and to Justinian’s 
aqueduct, and so home to Pera, making a ride of about 
thirty miles through an interesting country. We first 
ascended the valley of Buyukdere, and enjoyed the 
beautiful prospect as we looked back upon the Bos¬ 
phorus from the great arch of Sultan Mahmoud’s new 
aqueduct between Buyukdere and Bagdsche Koi. On 
arriving at Belgrade we saw the whole system of col¬ 
lecting water in large reservoirs or bends, as they are 



64 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


called, for the use of Pera and Constantinople. The 
forest of Belgrade is the only wooded region near 
Constantinople; the thick shades, and the damp at¬ 
mosphere hanging about the trees, is considered a great 
protection to the reservoirs, and on this account the 
wood is never cut, which probably is the cause why 
Belgrade is at certain seasons extremely unhealthy, 
and subject to malaria fever. Two out of the seven 
aqueducts we remarked were curved. 

On arriving at Justinian’s aqueduct we halted for 
an hour under the shade of its immense structure, and 
examined it in every accessible part, and climbed up 
the hill forming one side of the valley across which the 
aqueduct was built. On the summit, where the stone 
was broken away, we obtained a sight of the stream of 
water conveyed by it, which was two feet deep, and two 
feet across, but the channel was only half full; the water 
was running with considerable rapidity. Underneath 
the shade of one of the arches were two wild-looking 
shepherds, with sheep, cows, and goats. The goats 
were scrambling about the stonework in the most 
picturesque manner possible. There were a few fine 
butterflies in the forest of Belgrade, and during our 
ride we saw several hoopoes, and caught a tortoise, 
and met a long string of camels laden with char¬ 
coal ; and on a large open piece of ground we saw 
thousands of a small animal of the weasel kind that 
burrowed under ground as we approached. Water¬ 
wheels were in general use for irrigating the culti¬ 
vated lands. 




A 


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y 



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* 

























































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. 

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* 

. 


































* 




















CONSTANTINOPLE. 


65 


Wednesday , September 1.—Quiet morning at home. 
Rode in the afternoon. 

Thursday , September 2.—Quiet morning. At two 
o’clock to the ceremony of the Howling Dervishes 
at Scutari. The preliminary prayers and prostrations 
somewhat resembled those of the Dancing Dervishes, 
but with this difference, that incense was made use of, 
and the accompanying song had a slight resemblance to 
what I have heard in Roman Catholic services. These 
Howlers do not wear a dress peculiar to themselves as 
the Dancers do, but appeared as if they formed a secret 
society consisting of all professions. We observed one 
of the Dancing Dervishes standing in a composed atti¬ 
tude amongst the chiefs of the Howlers. After some 
long prayers and hideously noisy responses, the de¬ 
votees, at least fifty in number, stood up in a row 
quite close together, and began to recite the words 
“ La-allah-il-allah ! ” bowing themselves alternately 
backwards and forwards, keeping time to their reci¬ 
tative. This motion and the repetition of the words 
became gradually more and more rapid, with occasional 
violent ejaculations of “ Hu! ” whilst the noisy chant 
and responses in a yet shriller key were kept up 
without cessation by two others who remained kneeling 
on the floor. The movements and vociferations gra¬ 
dually assumed a more frantic character; the agitations 
of the devotees, and, I am shocked to add, of several 
children who bore their part in the ceremony, became 
dreadful. The heads of some were tossed about so 
violently that their features were scarcely distinguish- 


66 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


able, and their limbs quivered with excitement, whilst 
they uttered the strangest guttural noises, mixed with 
some extremely fine deep bass notes which were heard 
at intervals in the storm of vociferation. But at a 
signal from the chief who presided over the whole, they 
reseated themselves round the room with the utmost 
composure; some few, indeed, wiped the sweat from 
their brows, but not one appeared exhausted or even out 
of breath. 

A pause now ensued, during which the Dancing 
Dervish, who had hitherto remained a quiet spectator, 
came forward, and revolved in the middle of the circle 
by himself for several minutes. Then the Howlers 
re-arranged themselves, and recommenced their move¬ 
ments ; this time from side to side instead of backwards 
and forwards, with their recitative as before, but 
changing the accentuation of the syllables from Ana- 
peestic, as it were, to Iambic, —“ La-I-lah-ll-lah-lah !” 
However, in this second act of the performance the 
noise again became stunning, and the contortions 
and apparent excitement of the Dervishes soon reached 
its climax ; the poor children bearing a part as 
before, when the whole ended quite suddenly at a 
signal from the chief, and the devotees quietly resumed 
what outer garments they had laid aside, and walked 
away. 

The whole was little better than a revolting and 
obscene sight. All these Howlers were low ruffianly- 
looking fellows ; there were several blacks and several 
soldiers among them. They are tolerated by the 


CONSTANTINOPLE. 


67 


government, but have had their ceremonies modified 
and cut down by the late Sultan. They are generally 
considered as impostors, and altogether bear but in¬ 
different characters, and are not respected as much as 
the Mewlewlis or Dancers. Round the room were sus¬ 
pended various iron instruments with which the Howlers 
used to maim and torture themselves, but such exhibi¬ 
tions have been forbidden by authority. Our impres¬ 
sion was, that had they indulged in such pastimes, we 
should rather have felt inclined to halloo them 
on like fighting dogs or beasts in a ring, wholly 
undeserving of sympathy. The exhibition lasted two 
hours. 

Friday , September 3.—In the morning to the 
Bazars. Quiet afternoon. 

Saturday , September 4.— Some of our party to The- 

rapia, and others to the Bazars. I walked with M- 

to the site of the Hall of Justice, a large space covered 
with ruins, the courts having been all destroyed by 
fire. Thence we went to the great cistern of Constan¬ 
tine, which is underground, and contains a vast body of 
water. It is constructed inside with very handsome 
arches and pillars, and did not convey the idea of 
having been originally intended as a cistern. It was 
impossible for us to see the whole extent of it. I under¬ 
stand that its Turkish name signifies “ The Thousand 
and One Pillars.” We then passed by the Burnt 
Column, as it is called, but we had seen it before, more 
than once, in the course of our rambles. 



68 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


Sunday , September 5.— Divine service at the 
Chapel of the Embassy. Quiet afternoon. 

Monday , September 6.—Some of our party again 
to the Bazars. Preparations for departure. 

Tuesday , September 7. — At five o’clock in the 
afternoon we left Constantinople by the French steamer 
for Malta. 

Thus we passed twenty-four entire days at Con¬ 
stantinople, and without making any excursion to a 
greater distance than Therapia or Belgrade, we were 
actively employed during the whole of the time. With 
the exception of the interior of the mosques, we 
thought that the .chief attractions of Constantinople 
lay out of doors, in the exquisite views of the hill- 
enthroned city and the Bosphorus obtained on every 
side. Above the general mass of the houses rise the 
spreading cupolas, relieved so happily by the lofty and 
glittering minarets, which, not without an elegance all 
their own, partake of the gracefulness both of the spire 
and of the mast of a ship. These, together with the 
dark cypress trees, the clear blue Bosphorus, and its 
light caiques, the ever-busy scene, the gay harmony of 
lively colours, the sky, sunshine, and fresh breeze, are 
the chief ingredients in the picture, a combination 
perhaps unequalled in any other part of the world. 
Happy are they who possess the talent of drawing ! 
Not only the general features of Constantinople, but 
the shipping, the boatmen, the porters under their 
enormous burdens, the beggars, the vendors of a 


CONSTANTINOPLE. 


69 


thousand different articles, are subjects for the pencil, 
on the water and on the land, all equally admi¬ 
rable. 

The Turks are certainly not without natural re¬ 
finement of manner, but I do not imagine that much 
insight into their true character can be obtained, or 
that any thing can be learnt concerning their domestic 
economy except after long residence in the country, or 
through opportunities afforded only to a few. I have 
heard, however, from high authority in such matters, 
that a dinner at a Pasha’s table is really excellent. 

It is a drawback at Constantinople that there are 
no public places of entertainment: all acquaintance 
with the people must be picked up in the day-time in 
the streets and Bazars. Neither is it very safe to go 
out after dark. The troops of dogs without homes or 
masters that are seen in every street during the day, 
generally asleep in the sun, towards dusk give them¬ 
selves the rousing shake, and begin to shew their 
wakefulness by barking at every Frank they meet. At 
night they prowl about the city, and would probably, 
especially in the winter time, attack any one that fell 
in their way. Besides, whoever is found in the streets 
at night without a lantern, is forthwith consigned to the 
Guard-house. 

The goods in the Bazars are set out in very tempting 
array. They are so arranged that one Bazar is appropri¬ 
ated to the sale of arms, another to the sale of drugs, a 
third to leather slippers, a fourth to horse-furniture, 


70 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


and so on for furs, jewellery, silks, embroidery, &c. 
The motley crowd, exhibiting the dresses of all nations, 
and made up of all ranks, degrees, and callings, and 
the brilliant and varied colours of many of the articles 
exposed for sale, seen in long perspective, with the 
arched roof of the building high over all, by a light 
subdued just sufficiently to take off the glare, form a 
scene that a painter might succeed in expressing 
on canvass, but of which words cannot convey an 
adequate idea. I need not add that the sellers 
reap a tolerably plentiful harvest from the European 
customers. The bargaining, without which no pur¬ 
chase is ever completed, is often very amusing; half or 
a third part of the original demand is usually taken with 
the greatest composure. 

It is absolutely necessary in Constantinople to walk 
a great deal, and to be equal to a little fatigue. There 
are no wheeled carriages excepting the arabas, which 
only go a foot’s pace, and to which most of the streets 
are inaccessible. Nor is riding on horseback always 
convenient. However, very good horses are to be 
procured when required for more distant excursions. 
They gallop well, and are remarkably sure-footed in 
steep and slippery places. 

In a merely amateur and sketchy excursion like 
ours, we must in a city like Constantinople have passed 
over a thousand points important to be studied and 
understood. Much, however, that is perhaps of value, 
and certainly much that is very pleasing, will remain 


THE HELLESPONT. 


71 


indelibly fixed in our recollections, serving at the same 
time to feed and cherish one predominant feeling of 
thankfulness that England is our home. 

Wednesday , September 8.—On board the steamer. 
At about eight o’clock in the morning, passing Gallipoli 
and Lampsacus, we entered the Hellespont, which is 
by no means equal in beauty to the Bosphorus; it has 
been not inaptly compared to the Menai strait. It 
is needless to advert to the innumerable associations 
connected with this classical region. We then came 
to the castles of Roumelia and Anatolia, which we feel 
reluctant to call by any other names than Sestos and 
Abydos, though they do not occupy the sites of those 
ancient towns, of which but very scanty traces remain. 
Modern Abydos is a pretty large town. The strait is a 
full mile across in this part, with a rapid current, and 
the European and Asiatic castles will probably always 
be looked upon as determining points, and serve as 
starting places for future swimmers adventuring for 
love or glory. Why have we not yet heard of an 
Etonian performing the feat of swimming across the 
Hellespont ? 

We then came in sight of Imbros, with Samothrace 
beyond it. These islands are very mountainous, and 
resemble in outline Snowdon aud the Carnarvonshire 
hills ; and soon afterwards we arrived off the coast of 
Troy, with Ida not far inland. 

.“ Classemque sub ipsa 

Antandro, et Phrygiae molimur montibus Idae.” 

iEn. III. 5. 



72 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


The region of the supposed site of Troy, as seen from the 
deck of a vessel, is wild, woody, and very hilly. Next, 
“ est in conspectu Tenedos,” then the craggy point of 
Cape Baba on the left, and Lesbos with its mountain 
scenery on the right, and we remarked some very high 
ground far inland in Asia Minor. Superb starlight at 
night, with the sea in a state of beautiful phospho¬ 
rescence. 

Thursday , September 9.—Early in the morning we 
found ourselves at anchor in the bay of Smyrna, 
which is very large, and surrounded by mountains, 
with abrupt volcanic outlines. We went on shore, 
and having eaten some kabob, and drunk some 
coffee, with a chibouk of excellent tobacco, we 
made some trifling purchases, and continued our walk 
through the scene of devastation occasioned by the 
late fire. We then walked up the hill at the back 
of the town through the burial grounds and their 
ancient groves of magnificent cypresses, to visit the 
extensive ruins of the Castle, or Acropolis, and the 
site of the ancient Christian church of Smyrna. East¬ 
ward you have a grand view of the town, the bay, and 
the surrounding heights, and westward of the little 
river Meles, with its green wooded banks, and of the 
neighbouring country and high mountains beyond. 
The tradition is, that Homer -was born at Smyrna or 
near the river Meles, whence Tibullus calls the poems 
of Homer “ Meleteae Chartae.” 

Towards the right as you look down upon Smyrna 
the bay runs up into a narrow salt-water marshy creek, 


SMYRNA. 


73 


that meets a beautifully green, and apparently highly 
cultivated tract, lying between the steep hills, which, 
however, has all the appearance of being a chosen 
abode of malaria. But close on its borders on either 
side, and just on the rise of the hills, lie the villages of 
Bougea and Bournabat, which are much resorted to as 
rural retreats by the people of Smyrna, and by the 
resident English merchants, several of whom we met 
riding home in the evening, dressed in white jackets, 
and with gay-looking pack-saddles of Persian carpet 
behind them. By the bird’s-eye view of Smyrna from 
the summit of the hill, we were enabled to compare 
the space occupied by the ruins with the remainder of 
the town, and to calculate that rather more than a 
third of the whole had been destroyed by the fire. 
The ruins were not blackened, but, on the contrary, 
were whiter than the rest of the town; for the dark 
brown roofs were gone, and the interior walls were 
exposed to the light, and the rubbish that lay about 
was chiefly plaster, forming a harsh and melancholy 
contrast with the verdure of the surrounding orchards 
and garden-grounds. 

The fury of the flames must have continued un¬ 
abated to the last, for the extreme houses to the north¬ 
wards on the barren hill-side were entirely destroyed, 
so that the fire had literally nothing further to devour; 
but it seemed to have wreaked its expiring fury upon 
two unfortunate cypress-trees, which, though nearly 
two hundred yards beyond the last houses, were quite 
shrivelled up to the top, and the hill, nearly two 

E 


74 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


months after the fire, was still covered with shreds and 
remnants of burnt bedding and furniture that had been 
carried thither for safety, but which caught fire, and 
were consumed where they lay. Several trees that had 
stood in the midst of the conflagration were more or 
less injured. Its rapidity must have been very great, 
for we saw the stem of a large vine against the wall of 
one of the burnt houses quite charred on one side, 
whilst the side next the wall w T as not even discoloured. 
Every thing opposed to the flames built of stone or 
marble remained standing. We saw the streets in the 
course of rebuilding in the old way, without any pre¬ 
cautions against the recurrence of so sweeping a 
disaster. 

Both here and at Constantinople there were oil- 
jars quite large enough to contain a man who wished 
to make one his hiding-place. This was a real com¬ 
mentary upon the stratagem resorted to in the story 
of the “ Forty Thieves,” which was such a puzzle to us 
in our childish days. 

Remarked a very pretty little fair-haired Jewess 
about twelve years old, gracefully dressed, and with a 
quantity of gold coins strung about her neck, drawing 
water at a fountain with a very elegantly shaped pitcher. 
We could not avoid contrasting her in our own minds 
with the figure of an English cottage girl performing a 
similar office, but to the disparagement of neither of 
the two. 

As it was the fruit season, we saw a great number 
of long strings of camels laden with grapes and figs, 


SMYRNA. 


75 


and passed through whole lines of delicious melons piled 
up for sale. Singular appearance of the crowd of long¬ 
necked camels in the narrow streets. Returned to our 
steamer at night to sleep. 

Friday , September 10.—We went again on shore 
and purchased a few more trifles. Some fresh pas¬ 
sengers came on board, and with them some friends, 
who remained until the vessel got under weigh. One 
young lady at the hour of parting went down the side 
crying bitterly, and continued sobbing hysterically in 
the boat that was rowing her away, though it was no 
more than a sister s white handkerchief and lily hand 
that waved after her from the deck. A stout portly 
merchant in an ample white waistcoat was attended by 
a good-looking young Turk, who, when it was time to 
part, threw himself in tears into the merchant’s arms. 
We remained occupied with the beauties of the bay of 
Smyrna until we approached “ Scio’s rocky Isle,” over 
which we saw the sun set. 

Saturday, September 11.—Early in the morning 
we arrived at the island of Syra, where the old town 
is built upon a very steep conical hill. Here our two 
companions, L-F- and F-, left us to per¬ 

form their quarantine, intending to go on to Athens. 
Having taken on board some passengers from Alexan¬ 
dria, we weighed anchor from Syra about noon, with a 
distant view of Delos, hard and fast where it was left 
by its tutelary deity between Gyaros and Mycone. 
The weather was delightful. At night we saw a great 





76 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


deal of vivid lightning in the horizon, with bright 
starlight overhead, whilst the sea round the vessel was 
most beautifully phosphorescent. 

Sunday , September 12.—Cape Matapan and the 
Island of Cerigo ; afterwards sea and sky, with enough 
swell to discompose bad sailors. 

Monday , September 13.—At sea. At one time we 
thought the weather rather threatening, but towards 
the afternoon the wind died away, and in the evening 
it fell perfectly calm. The phosphorescence of the sea 
at night was quite lovely. 

Tuesday , September 14.—Sea as smooth as a mir¬ 
ror. At about ten o’clock in the morning we reached 
Malta, and passing by the mouth of the great harbour, 
the bristling batteries, and the lighthouse of St. Elmo, 
cast anchor immediately in the Quarantine Harbour, 
and were consigned, twenty-five in number, some of us 
to Fort Manoel, and others to the Lazaretto. The 
greater part of the day was taken up with our arrange¬ 
ments in Fort Manoel, preparatory to spending eighteen 
mortal days in that delectable retreat. We hired a 
servant to wait upon our own party, now consisting of 

ourselves, V-, and M-, who accompanied us in 

the steamer from Constantinople. Our furniture was 
supplied at a fixed rate per day, and our meals in the 
same manner, from establishments attached to the 
Lazaretto. We were delighted with receiving intelli¬ 
gence that the Vanguard was in harbour. We imme¬ 
diately sent off word to A-, informing him of our 





MALTA. 


77 


arrival; he sent an answer in surprise and joy, and 
did not fail to pay us a visit at the Parlatorio as soon 
as possible. 

Wednesday, September 15.—In Fort Manoel. 

Thursday, September 16.—In Fort Manoel. 

Friday, September 17.—In Fort Manoel. 

Saturday, September 18.—In Fort Manoel. 

Sunday, September 19.—In Fort Manoel. 

Monday, September 20.—In Fort Manoel. 

Tuesday, September 21.—In Fort Manoel. Our 
amusements in quarantine were necessarily very limited, 
and it will easily be imagined that the whole artillery 
of the Fort was directed against the common enemy— 
Time. Our resources consisted chiefly of bathing in 
the morning, breakfast, writing letters or journals, 
sleeping, sketching, which can be pursued even in a 
lazaretto by the possessors of that precious talent, 
singing, guitar and flute-playing, dinner (the great 
event of the day), smoking, which, in a Pickwickian 
sense, was board and lodging to us, and, if it had been 
washing too, it would have been all the better; 
with the occasional variety of intercepting the de¬ 
termined march of the ants through our rooms, 
hunting the lizards basking in the sun, listening to 
the ponderous knell flung from the belfry of St. 
John’s Cathedral, gazing listlessly at the kites flown 
from the flat roofs of Valletta flashing white in the 
sunshine, or at the “ ships slowly sinking in the sleepy 
seathen came the report of the evening gun at 
sunset, when the whole court-yard usually began to 


78 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


re-echo with the recital of the prayers of some devout 
Mussulman, unseen by clay, but now heard in earnest; 
and next with some popular melody sent forth from 
British lungs for our entertainment during our evening 
walk of meditation on the ramparts. Then, as it grew 
late, having gazed alternately at the brilliant stars 
above, and the boatmen’s lights beneath gliding softly 
over the water, we retired for the night. Thus were 
our days passed in Fort Manoel, until the sickness of 
our companions supplied us with further and more 
anxious occupation. 

Wednesday , September 22.—Two of our immediate 
neighbours and fellow-prisoners very ill. They were 

visited to-day by two priests from Valletta, and M-, 

who has been ailing for some time, was seized with 
a bleeding at the nose which lasted nearly three 
hours. 

Thursday, September 23.—M- rather better, 

but one of our two neighbours appears to be sinking 
rapidly. 

Friday , September 14.—This morning one of our 
neighbours died, and his companion remains in a very 
dangerous state. Two others are complaining of illness, 
but not seriously. 

In the afternoon we observed a large carrion crow 
hovering over the Fort, and finally over that part of 
the building in which the unfortunate man died. The 
corpse was laid out on the ground-floor, and the doors 
and windows were open, but the walls were very thick, 
and nothing could have been seen from the outside. 




MALTA. 


79 


The occurrence forced itself upon my notice from its 
similarity to one that took place some years ago in my 
own family, and probably there are few who cannot 
call to mind some circumstances of a like nature 
brought more or less home to themselves — some 
similar apparitions of birds at the time of the decease 
of persons well known and perhaps dear to them. The 
wonder is, what force of instinct or perception can 
bring birds wholly undomesticated, and accustomed to 
range the open air and fields for their food, to the 
house, or to the very windows of the chamber of death ; 
for, agreeably to the experiments of Audubon the natu¬ 
ralist, birds of prey are guided to their food by the 
sight alone, and not by smell, a conclusion which tends 
to throw an air of solemn mystery over these visitations. 
In the course of the day I mentioned the circumstance 
to several persons of different nations in Fort Manoel. 
They had all noticed the bird as an unusual sight in 
that place, and, without pretending to offer any regular 
explanation of the phenomenon, they one and all con¬ 
nected the presence of the crow with that of the dead 
body. 

It is no doubt from occurrences like these, and the 
natural desire to account for them, that the belief has 
arisen that the souls of the dead inhabit the form of 
birds, a creed for which we need not travel far from 
home. See Note 43d to Lord Byron’s “ Bride of 
Abydos,” and the instances there quoted. 

Saturday , September 25.—M- rather better. 

An oppressive sirocco wind has been blowing for the 



80 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


last two or three days. The quantity of moisture 
which the wind deposits is quite extraordinary. As 
soon as the sun gets low a clamminess becomes per¬ 
ceptible, and a linen jacket is soon wetted through. 
On clear calm nights, with a north wind, I have not 
been able to perceive any dew whatever, nor was there 
any sensation of chilliness or dampness to drive us 
within doors. Some interesting results would probably 
be obtained from experiments made at Malta with 
Daniel’s hygrometer. 

Sunday , September 26. — Sirocco still blowing. 
M- not so well. 

Monday , September 27.—The sirocco wind changed 
to north : guardianos playing at dominoes out on the 
ramparts by moonlight. 

Tuesday , September 28. — We have now a medical 

man in quarantine with us to attend upon M-: 

brilliant moonlight. 

Wednesday , September 29.—M- a little better 

in the morning, but worse again at night. 

Thursday , September 30. — M-the same: the 

companion of our neighbour who died is said to be 

recovering. Mrs. B-called upon us and saw 

M-, but he rambled and did not know her. 

Friday , October 1.—This morning we obtained 
Pratique, and bade adieu to Fort Manoel. Our first 

care was to get M-up, he dressed himself, but was 

evidently in a delirious state ; he was taken to Mr. 

B-’s house. We then went to Durnsford’s Hotel 

in the Strada Reale, V alletta, and found it comfortable 







VALLETTA. 


81 


and clean. Valletta is a very pretty town : nearly all 
the houses are of stone, spacious, and well built; the 
fortifications are most extensive, and are probably 
impregnable. We visited St. John’s Cathedral, and 
admired the silver plate and the mosaic of the pave¬ 
ment very much, but the gilding is rather heavy, 
and the roof wants height. The celebrated picture 
by Caravaggio, of the beheading of St. John, is ill 
placed and requires more light. 

Saturday , October 2. — The faldette, or black silk 
hood, worn by the women here, is very peculiar; 
it is certainly, becoming, and admirably adapted for 
every nice shade and gradation of coquetry ; it re¬ 
minded me of the graundee described in the imagina¬ 
tive romance of “ Peter Wilkins.” Saw some specimens 
of the Maltese stone-work and silver filigree ornaments, 
and walked round to see the great harbour from the 
height of the Barracca. 

Sunday , October 3. — Rode to St. Antonio, where 
we saw the Governor’s palace and gardens ; the Emir 
Beschir, Prince of Lebanon, lived there when under 
the English escort. The ex-Bey of Bengasi is now 
resident in Valletta, on the Pieta. 

In the evening Floriana gardens and band : we 
afterwards saw a religious procession pass through the 
streets, accompanied by a crowd of ragged boys, 
whose devotion or amusement consisted in catching 
in the hollow of their hands the drippings of the holy 
wax that fell from the lighted flambeaux. 

Monday , October 4. — Visited the magnificent 

e 2 


82 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


library of the Knights of Malta, and saw there several 
specimens of antique Roman pottery; and the stone 
idols, sacrificial vessels, and fragments of Phoenician 
pottery found at Hagiar-Keem, near Crendi, and 
an unique sarcophagus in terra cotta, found in a 
tomb on the Benjemma hills. We then took a caleche 
and went to Crendi, about seven miles from Valletta, 
passing through the casals of Lucca and Micabba, 
where we noticed the beauty of some of the carved 
stone balconies, and the size and external architecture 
of the churches. The ruins at Crendi are supposed to 
be Phoenician, and it is probable that further numerous 
vestiges may yet be discovered in their neighbourhood. 
Two temples have been excavated; the one nearest 
the sea is the most perfect. In their general character 
they reminded me of Stonehenge, but they exhibited a 
more distinct plan, with traces of architecture and 
sculpture of a decidedly Hindoo character; the stone 
idols that were found near the altar, are very like what 
are called Chinese Josses, except that they are, without 
exception, female figures ; and it is remarkable that all 
the heads are wanting, which, by the construction of 
the necks of the idols, evidently might have been 
attached and removed at pleasure, and small holes 
are seen which some kind of fastenings for the heads 
originally passed through. The altar, which remains 
in perfect preservation, is dotted with holes, as are also 
many stones throughout the building, and on each 
of its four sides it is ornamented with palm-trees in 
relief springing from a basket. Some of the fragments 


VALLETTA. 


83 


of the pottery are also dotted with holes; others have 
small cylindrical nodules worked in relief upon them, 
and others have their surfaces wrought into a repre¬ 
sentation of scales. Judging from the curves of some 
of these fragments, the entire vessels must have been 
of a very large size. 

Tuesday , October 5.— At Valletta: bought some 
of the delicate Maltese lace mittens. Diodorus says of 
the Maltese, “ Variorum operum artifices habent, inter 
quos excellunt qui lintea insigni subtilitate ac mollitie 
texunt.” 

Wednesday , October 6. — M- still very ill. 

This morning we visited the Monte di Pieta, a 
government institution for advancing money on pledges. 
It is admirably regulated, and every thing seemed in 
the best possible order. Some old-fashioned jewellery 
and silver ornaments which were shewn to us were 
really curious. 

In the afternoon we rode over to the deserted Citta 
Vecchia, which was the capital of the island before 
the arrival of the Knights of St. John in 1530. We 
visited the Cathedral, St. Paul’s Church, St. Paul’s 
Cave, and the Catacombs, which are very extensive 
and of high antiquity; some fragments of Roman 
pottery were exhibited to us, as well as several 
Egyptian and Phoenician idols found in the neighbour¬ 
hood, which would have greatly surprised us had we 
not seen the ruins at Crendi, and the idols discovered 
there. In continuation of the passage quoted above, 



84 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


Diodorus says of Melita or Citta Vecchia, “ Domus 
illic sunt perpulchrae, suggrundiis et albario opere 
magnificenter exornatee.” 

Thursday , October 7.—Rode on horseback in the 
country round Valletta. The agricultural instruments 
at Malta are very primitive: the soil is extremely 
light, or rather by nature there is none, but whatever 
can be obtained for the purpose is industriously scraped 
together, and thus arable fields are actually con¬ 
structed, and are fenced in with stone walls, frequently, 
where the ground is uneven, in terraces one above the 
other. The cactus plant is a silent but ceaseless assistant 
labourer in the process of improving the soil, insinuating 
its roots into the fissures of the rock, and thus hasten¬ 
ing its pulverisation. The threshing-floor is merely 
a smooth space cleared out on the barren surface of 
the rock, where the corn is trodden out by oxen, 
on which occasion, as I was told, the animals are 
muzzled. The forks are ingeniously made entirely 
of wood ; a single piece is cloven in two places, so 
as to form three prongs, which are kept separate by 
wedges, and the whole is held compactly together 
by strong pegs. The harrows are of heavy wood, but 
small, and without teeth. The plough is very simple, 
and resembles that described by Virgil in the first 
Georgic, but is adapted only for very light soils; 
in fact, the share itself is frequently merely of wood. 
In ploughing, an ox or a cow is generally yoked 
with an ass, but the Maltese asses are powerful 





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MALTA. 


85 


animals, so that the two are pretty equally matched. 
The ploughman guides his plough with the left hand, 
and in the right carries a staff, furnished with a rude 
whip-lash, and shod with iron at the other end, which 
serves the purpose of cleansing the ploughshare. At a 
small farm near Valletta there were some remarkably 
fine heifers, the produce of a cross between English 
and Sicilian cattle, that would have shewn well at an 
English agricultural meeting ; they were fine examples 
of Virgil’s 

“ Longo nullus lateri modus.” 

Cotton is grown in Malta in considerable quantities, 
and of a peculiarly fine quality. Many a picturesque 
group of female peasants is seen at work upon it from 
the very pod. It appears from Cicero that in his 
time the Maltese were celebrated for their manufacture 
of cotton cloth. The cactus opuntia, Indian fig, or 
prickly pear, grows in every part of the island; the 
fruit is rather insipid, but very refreshing, and of 
all colours; there are also a few bananas and palms; 
the carubba or locust-tree is not uncommon; it bears 
a pod resembling the tamarind in appearance and 
taste, which is eaten by the peasants, and is frequently 
given to horses and cattle. Some contend that St. 
John was fed in the wilderness with the fruit of 
the carubba and wild honey, and not with the insect 
called the locust. Oranges are produced in abundance ; 
the blood-red variety, I was told, derives its colour 
from an admixture of pomegranate blood by grafting. 


86 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


These productions shew that the heat of the climate is 
very great. The name of Malta, or Melita, tempts one 
to suppose that the island must once have been cele¬ 
brated for its honey. 

Friday , October 8. — Saw a very fine specimen 
of the ass of Gozo belonging to an English officer 
quartered here; the animal stood nearly fifteen hands 
high, and was equal to almost any weight. I got 
upon him, but he was not pleasant to ride, being 
very low before, and possessing a mouth upon which 
all indications were thrown away. But the general 
appearance of power about the animal was very 
striking, and the enormous ears not turning “ with 
motion dull upon the pivot of his scull,” but moving 
quickly like those of a well-bred horse, together with 
its large bright eyes, gave to its head a peculiar and 
startling animation. It had been the winner at the 
races in the island, and in consequence the good- 
humoured owner has been honoured with the title of 
“ Primo Somaro” ever since. 

In the evening rode ronnd Borgo, Senglea, and 
Victorioso, on the side of the harbour opposite to 
Valletta. M-worse. 

Sirocco : when this wind has been blowing during 
the night, the streets early in the morning are as 
wet as if there had been a heavy shower, and through¬ 
out the day the dampness adheres to the pavement 
that is in shadow, and is deposited afresh on that 
which the sun from hour to hour ceases to shine upon. 



VALLETTA. 


87 


The effects of the black sirocco, described as bring¬ 
ing a dull haze mixed with fine sand from the shores 
of Africa, we did not experience. 

Saturday , October 9.—At Valletta: quiet day. 

Sunday , October 10. — Floriana Gardens and 
band. 

Monday , October 11.—Rode to the Boschetto, where 
there is a garden and an abundant spring of fine 
water. An extremely large stalactite, brought from 
the Island of Gozo, is set up as a pillar in front of 
the spring. 

Tuesday , October 12.—Visited the armoury in the 
palace at Valletta; the chief curiosities were a sword 
and pistol combined in one weapon, a Turkish air- 
gun, and a cannon taken at the siege of Rhodes, made 
of copper tube, bound round with rope and cemented 
over. In the afternoon rode round the casals of 
Nasciar and Mousta, and visited the immense church 
lately commenced at the latter place, the walls of 
which had been raised round about the old church, 
which they completely enclosed; two lofty towers 
were completed, but the roof was not yet begun, 
and the dome of the old church rose to sight above 
the encincture of the new walls. It does not appear 
that there are any funds forthcoming at all adequate 
. to the support of such an undertaking, which is 
necessarily carried on by labour voluntarily con¬ 
tributed in the shape of a religious exercise, or im¬ 
posed as a penance. The inhabitants of all the casals 
take a superstitious pride in their churches, but at 


88 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


Mousta they have carried this feeling to a length 
palpably absurd. 

We saw many female faces at the little square 
unglazed windows, like those in the pictures of 
Murillo; and many a study for a Rebecca among 
the peasant girls carrying water on their heads in 
classically shaped pitchers; the poor inhabitants are 
compelled to undergo this additional labour if their 
dwellings lie far from the line of the aqueduct. This 
noble work runs directly across a great part of the island, 
and was constructed by the grand master Vignacourt. 

Wednesday , October 13.— On board the Vanguard 

with A-; she is a splendid eighty-gun ship on Sir 

W. Symons’s model. Invited some friends to tea in 
the evening. 

Thursday , October 14.—Poor M-much worse : 

rode with A-to Entahleb, which is really a spot 

very well worth visiting; there is a fine sea-view as 
you approach it, and it is one of the few places in 
Malta where foliage and verdure are to be met with. 
The cliffs, with the chapel and cottage above, are 
relieved by orange and pomegranate trees, with culti¬ 
vated patches of garden below; a most agreeable 
change from the arid rock we had ridden over, well- 
nigh calcined by the excessive heat of the sun. 

Friday , October 15. — We left Malta at night by 
the Mongibello steamer for Naples. Our poor friend 
M-remains with Mr. B-in a dangerous state. 

Malta is certainly a very interesting island, but the 
extreme heat and intense glare are serious draw- 






VALLETTA. 


89 


backs upon it as a residence; yet it is far from un¬ 
healthy. The Maltese are a singular race, and the 
mixture of languages spoken in Valletta is very divert¬ 
ing ; they are superstitious, but industrious and sur¬ 
prisingly active. They have all dark hair and dark 
black eyes, with a peculiar national cast of countenance 
and an expression not very agreeable: even among 
the women we did not remark much beauty. Malta 
is an instance of the superior importance of situation, 
which more than counterbalances the disadvantages 
of its climate, soil, and scarcity of water. Owing to 
its central position and the excellence of its harbours, 
it was inhabited by the earliest commercial nations, 
which the relics of antiquity sufficiently shew ; from 
which period to the present it has continued to be 
a place of importance and a favourite station for 
shipping. St. Paul, after remaining three months, 
“ departed in a ship of Alexandria that had wintered 
in the isle,” and Cicero says of it “ubi piratse fere 
quotannis hiemare soleant.” Its modern importance is 
quite manifest without further remark. The English 
society in Valletta is decidedly of a high order; we 
were much gratified by the kind attentions shewn to 
us by many agreeable families. It is certainly, at first, 
delightful to think that in December and January, 
whilst the inhabitants of London are enveloped in 
fogs and gloom, you may here saunter in an orange 
garden under a clear warm sky, and gather the ripe 
fruit hanging over your head ; but the variety of 
amusements afforded by the vicissitudes of our own 


90 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


northern climate is infinitely preferable to any delights 
that Malta can produce. 

Saturday , October 6.—Having passed the “altas 
cautes, projectaque saxa Pachyni,” descriptive to this 
day of Cape Passaro, and the “ praepingue solum stag- 
nantis Helori,” early in the morning we arrived at 
Syracuse. The white summit of Etna was shining in 
the distance above a stratum of cloud. We landed, 
and lost no time in setting off for the antiquities, and 
crossed over at once from Ortygia to the sites of the 
ancient quarters of the city, Neapolis, Tyche, and 
Acradina. Passing two remaining columns of the 
Temple of Ceres, we came to the cemetery, where the 
ornamental entablatures of the tombs, and a vast num¬ 
ber of square niches, are hewn out in the face of the 
solid rock. Our guide selected the handsomest, and 
informed us it was the tomb of Archimedes; but it had 
not the appearance of the tomb of a philosopher, and 
was nothing like the “ columellam non multum e dumis 
eminentem,” described by Cicero. From thence we 
made our way circuitously through part of Tyche to 
the upper part of Neapolis, where the remains of the 
Theatre, which was not built, but hewn entirely out 
of the side of the hill in the solid rock, detained us 
for some time. The seats were in tolerable preser¬ 
vation, and so formed as to present a kind of ledge 
carefully rounded oif, and sufficiently raised to prevent 
the feet of any spectator from annoying the one who 
sat below him. The staircases were still accessible, 
though much fallen to decay; the orchestra was partly 


SYRACUSE. 


91 


overgrown with bulrushes and brambles. The water 
of the aqueduct from Tyche above, after turning some 
mills, formed a cascade amongst the ruins. Hard by 
was the Nymphgeum or grotto, with its clear cool 
water, and its deep shade; and in full enjoyment of the 
fresh breeze, and the gentler influence of the sun, 
after the heats of Malta, we reposed with pleasure 
in this interesting spot, with part of Acradina, the 
Mediterranean, Ortygia, the great harbour, and the 
tract watered by the Anapus, full in our view. The 
peculiar enchantment of this spot gradually unsettles 
the belief that it once stood in the heart of a populous 
and mighty city ; that here resounded the music of the 
orchestra, and the shouts of a gay or factious audience ; 
that here flashed the expressions of courtly wit; here 
was a loose given to ruder jests ; here were assignations 
whispered; here political opinions advanced ;—for the 
whole is lying as it were in the lap of Nature; the 
silence is unbroken save by the dashing of waters, the 
song of birds, or the hum of insects ; the heron takes 
wing from the rushes hard by, and the lizard basks 
undisturbed at our feet. If those things were so, here 
has been regeneration, not decay; for the waters of 
the city aqueducts have returned to rivulets of the 
hill; the very seats have been moulded into gradations 
which the waterfall covers with its spray, and the 
rainbow comes in glorious stillness into the very centre 
of the theatre. But this inscription — this regularly 
fashioned curve — this and that evidence of human 
design, are things palpable and unanswerable that 


92 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


force themselves upon us, which, however, we would 
not willingly be rid of; for they impart no touch of 
melancholy now, but rather modify than disturb the 
illusion, and place the whole before us as less under 
the influence of a destroying power than subject to the 
gentle handling of one which is gradually moulding it 
into a renewed condition of existence. 

Again, here might we sit, with eyes half shut, in a 
midsummer day-dream, and inwardly rebuild and re¬ 
people those deserted regions, remuster the hostile 
forces of Nicias or Marcellus, and man or destroy 
at will invading armaments; or cover the pestiferous 
regions of the Anapus with the bodies of the be¬ 
siegers, and shape the gaunt spectre of malaria hover¬ 
ing over her unburied thousands, and scourging in 
fiend-like mercy the proud Himilco home to his native 
Carthage, there to perish by his own hand; or sum¬ 
mon the intendant Verres before us—Verres, the 
false, the lascivious, the avaricious, the cruel, the 
sacrilegious—summon him and his lewd band of as¬ 
sociates— embody and set forth his piles of plate, his 
gold, his statues, and his purple. But suddenly the 
air grows eloquent — breathes and burns with the de¬ 
nunciations of intellect and justice fulminated against 
the evil-doer. And see, the tyrant flies! Now no 
one fears him — no one values his favour—no one 
ever loved him ! He flies, to hide his head in volun¬ 
tary and miserable exile, there, in an hour of awful 
retribution, to be stripped and murdered by a spoiler 
stronger than he. 


SYRACUSE. 


93 


Having indulged awhile in similar speculations, we 
left this spot to visit a Roman amphitheatre in good 
preservation, partly hewn out of the rock, and partly 
built with large stones, and near that a spacious vaulted 
chamber half under ground, supported by pillars, some¬ 
thing resembling a miniature of the great cistern of the 
Thousand and One Pillars at Constantinople, though it 
contained no water. 

The enormous excavations called the Latomies, or 
stone quarries, which furnished building materials for 
all Syracuse, are not far from the Theatre. These 
vast pits, whose perpendicular sides are on an average 
one hundred feet high, lie open to the air and light, 
but communicate with two or three remarkable ca¬ 
verns. The roof of one of these was supported by 
rude columns of rock, apparently left for the purpose 
by the original excavators ; in another there was room, 
light, and shelter, for the operations of a rope-walk; 
and another is conceived to be the passage of the 
famous Ear of Dionysius. This latter cavern is fifty 
feet high, or more, running with a slight sinuosity into 
the solid rock in the perpendicular side of the quarry ; 
the roof is vaulted, and the sides are slightly curved, 
so that a section of the cave from top to bottom 
might be likened to that of a church-bell. The 
water from the ancient aqueduct above trickles con¬ 
tinually down the face of the rock at the entrance of 
this cave which is beautifully overgrown with the 
Capillus Veneris. 


94 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


The slightest sounds made or uttered within are 
reverberated in an extraordinary though confused man¬ 
ner; but we put no faith in the legend that exhibits 
Dionysius in the character of an eavesdropper, nor in 
the received account that this cavern was originally 
hewn out as a prison, though it may have been used 
as such ; we rather were inclined to regard it as a 
natural cavern discovered by the excavators of the 
original quarry, and upon which they afterwards ex¬ 
pended some labour, considering it to be of a fine 
shape, and the secret dwelling-place of a mysterious 
echo; and in fact we saw in other Latomies which we 
visited in the course of the day two caverns quite 
similar to the one in question. It was in one of these 
hollow and roofless quarries that the three thousand 
Athenian prisoners were confined at the defeat of 
Nicias, and, according to the affecting narrative of 
Thucydides, underwent all the horrors of disease 
arising from exposure to the heats of the day, and the 
cold damps at night, superadded to the pains of filth, 
hunger, and thirst, and captivity in a foreign land. 
Their sickness, thus arising chiefly from want of cover¬ 
ing, was, no doubt, a species of malaria, possibly not 
unlike that which was so fatal to the Carthaginians when 
encamped near the marshes of the Anapus, yet which, 
at the same time, spared the Syracusans: for the 
soldiers of the besieging army were living necessarily 
in tents, and exposed in a great degree to every kind 
of atmospheric change, whilst the Syracusans were 


SYRACUSE. 


95 


separated by the city-wall not only from the be¬ 
leaguering army, but also from the fury of the pes¬ 
tilence, with the additional protection of the general 
mass of building. All the observations upon this in¬ 
sidious disease tend to shew that in malarious seasons 
and districts health is more easily preserved in the closest 
and most crowded quarters of a city than in an open and 
airy situation, such as we should choose in England. 

The Latomies present innumerable specimens of the 
fruitfulness of the climate; they are deliciously watered 
both by the ancient aqueducts and by natural springs ; 
and crags, such as a savage pencil would delight to 
dash in, are mellowed down by time, and blend their 
weather-stains with the hues of cool green retreats 
where Loves, Graces, and Bacchanals, might be drawn 
disporting. Here are found in profusion the orange- 
tree, the lemon, the vine, and the fig; noble bay-trees, 
worthy of a station in a forest, the healing palma 
Christi, the elegant styrax, the cactus, varieties of the 
acacia, the graceful amaranthus, and the feathering 
banana; whilst the steep sides of the quarry, robed in 
dark ivy, and the light and lovely Capillus Veneris, 
close in the prospect, thus apparently enriched with 
half the treasures of the vegetable world. 

The Catacombs are situated in Acradina, and on 
our way thither we passed over a desolate space, 
where imperfect vestiges alone told of the departed 
city. Here and there the rock was deeply indented 
with the tracks of carriage-wheels, and was mapped 


96 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


out, as it were, into the foundations of houses, of 
which the very stones have ceased to be. These 
subterranean sepulchres are of prodigious extent, and 
of the highest antiquity ; the cells intended for infants, 
and those for grown-up persons, are by no means 
larger than would be required in these days; and 
there is a total absence of ornament, except that 
some Pagan and Christian symbols intermingled are 
distinguishable on the walls in fresco-painting of the 
rudest kind, indicative, no doubt, of the ages of 
persecution when the early Christians took refuge 
in these dens and caves of the earth. The Catacombs 
lie under the Chapel of St. John, but their immediate 
entrance is by the subterranean Church of St. Marcian, 
reputed the earliest place of Christian worship in 
Europe. 

We passed from thence to the Capucine convent, 
where we had yet to see the largest of the Latomies. 
It is laid out as the garden of the convent, and richly 
stocked with vines and fruit-trees; out of it runs one 
of the caverns before alluded to, resembling the passage 
of the ear of Dionysius. The monks received us very 
hospitably, and treated us with cake and excellent 
wine, which was most acceptable after our exertions. 
We then rode back to Ort.ygia along the shores of the 
lesser harbour, and I made a drawing of a plough 
at work in a field in Acradina. 

Later in the day we visited the Temple of Minerva, 
which was converted into a Christian church in the 


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SYRACUSE. 


97 


twelfth century ; to effect which, and to gain room, 
arches have been opened in the interior wall, and 
the spaces between the exterior columns walled up, 
to the destruction of the symmetry of the ancient fane ; 
but, had not this been done, the probability is that 
little or nothing of it would have been now remaining ; 
and there is something consoling, and even sublime, in 
the idea that it has been a place of daily worship 
during 2500 years. 

The once sacred Fountain of Arethusa is in a 
sadly degraded state. Its situation with respect to 
the sea accords precisely with the description given 
by Cicero, but the spring must surely be far less 
abundant now than it was in his time. The well- 
known and beautiful fiction is given in the following 
lines of Virgil, which recognise as the river Alpheus 
the powerful spring of fresh water said to be still 
visible in calm weather as it rises from the bottom 
of Syracuse Harbour. 

“ Sicanio praetenta sinu jacet insula contra 
Plemmyrium undosum ; nomen dixere priores 
Ortygiam. Alpheum fama est hue Elidis amnem 
Occultas egisse vias subter mare, qui nunc 
Ore, Arethusa, tuo, Siculis confunditur undis. 

Jussi numina magna loci veneramur,” &c. 

^Eneid III. 692 . 

But these deities we found had been long since meta¬ 
morphosed into barelegged washerwomen. 

We did not visit the Anapus and Cyanean fountain, 
but brought away a few specimens of paper that had 

F 


98 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


been made from the leaves of the papyrus-plant that 
grows there. 

Since an early hour in the morning AEtna had 
been enveloped in thick clouds; in the evening the 
weather changed, and we had to walk some distance to 
the harbour, through pitchy darkness, and a drenching 
rain, which very soon wetted us through. We took 
shelter in the guard-house, and were treated with 
the greatest civility by the soldiers, and by their 
assistance obtained a boat, which put us on board 
our steamer. It rained so heavily that the phospho¬ 
rescence of the sea-water was rendered visible by the 
agitation caused in it by each drop as it fell. At night 
we weighed anchor for Messina, where we arrived 
early on Sunday morning. 

Sunday , October 17. — The beauty of Messina 
from the sea can scarcely be surpassed: the quay 
is about a mile in extent, very broad and handsome, 
with a curvature that adds much to its effect. In 
the afternoon we walked up the picturesque sandy 
gorge of a Jiumare or torrent, which after heavy 
rain rushes down from the heights behind the town, 
bringing with it quantities of sand and gravel; we 
afterwards visited the Convent of San Gregorio. On 
all sides the views of the strait, the harbour, and 
Calabrian coast, are quite charming, with the delightful 
additions of cool water and luxuriant vegetation. Fine 
effect of heavy showers of rain about the heights 
of Calabria. The poor people here, as at Malta, 
make the prickly pear an important article of food; 


MESSINA. 


99 


a portion of the plant is generally gathered with the 
fruit upon it, by which means it keeps better through 
the winter. 

Monday, October 18.—Excursion to the telegraph 
on the summit of the range of hills behind Messina, 
whence southwards was a prospect of the strait, 
inferior only to some we had enjoyed of the magical 
Bosphorus; and northwards were the Lipari Islands, 
and the volcano Stromboli, but obscured by haze. 
About a mile due south of the telegraph there is a deep 
and extensive hollow, which may possibly be the crater 
of an extinct volcano. We returned by the carriage- 
road called the Strada Nuova. 

Tuesday , October 19. — In the morning, before 
leaving Messina, I took a boat and rowed out to 
Charybdis, which is a very strong eddy in deep water 
just off Messina lighthouse. In the strait there are 
several such eddies, particularly one off the rock 
Scylla, which is on the Calabrian shore, and not quite 
three miles and a half from the lighthouse. The 
morning was perfectly calm, and it did not appear to 
me that there would have been much danger, if ac¬ 
companied by a boat, in attempting to swim in 
Charybdis; but the boatmen, probably to dissuade me 
from any lurking idea of jumping in, said that sharks 
were not uncommon thereabouts, and even in the 
harbour. When certain winds are blowing, ships 
refuse to answer the helm in the eddy ; and in a dead 
calm vessels have been seen waltzing round one an¬ 
other for hours together. The fabulous terrors with 


100 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


which the ancients invested this celebrated region are 
not wholly without foundation. We spent the rest 
of the day in walking about the town, in which we 
noticed an unusual number of silversmiths’ shops. The 
cathedral is remarkable for its mosaic roof, its pave¬ 
ment, and its altar-piece ; but the whole of the interior 
is considerably disfigured by the bad taste exhibited in 
the decorations. Messina was laid waste by plague in 
1743, and by the great earthquake of 1783 ; indeed, 
earthquakes are so frequent here that w’e were credibly 
informed that scarcely a month passes without the 
occurrence of a shock more or less violent. We 
left Messina in the finest weather imaginable, and 
from the strait enjoyed in perfection the extreme 
beauty of the town and heights above, and the coast 
of Calabria, and gazed with interest at the castle- 
crowned Scylla as we passed. At about two o’clock 
we cast anchor at Tropcea, a town in Calabria, on a 
rocky eminence, w r ith woods, and vine-covered trellises, 
and wilder mountains in the background. We left 
Tropcea with Stromboli in sight, and continued our 
course for Naples. The evening M T as one of surpassing 
beauty ; after a cloudless day we watched the sun 
declining immediately over the cone of Stromboli, 
literally 

u .A flaming mount, whose top 

Brightness had made invisible.”— Par. Lost. 

But after sunset the volcano reappeared, and remained 
in sight as long as the twilight lasted ; and when it 

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MESSINA. 


101 


became quite dark we once or twice saw the dames. 
There was no wind during the night, and the sea 
was sufficiently smooth to redect the young moon and 
the brighter stars, whilst the water curled off from the 
vessel’s side, glowing with every variety of phos¬ 
phorescence, milky, stellar, and nebulous. 

“ Driven as in surges now beneath the stars, 

With momentary stars of its own birth, 

Fair constellated foam, still darting off 
Into the darkness ; now a tranquil sea, 

Outspread and bright, yet swelling to the moon.” 

Coleridge. 

I do not understand why the phosphorescence of 
the Mediterranean, which we have witnessed in such 
perfection every night since we left the Hellespont, 
has not been made mention of by ancient poets; nor 
have I ever met with any explanation of the phenomenon 
that is at all satisfactory. We hauled up a bucket full 
of the sea-water, and dashed it about, and found that 
it was still luminous, and that the hand which was wetted 
w ith it was luminous also ; but the effect soon went 
off, as if, after a certain discharge, the property or 
quality became exhausted. But the extreme beauty 
of the sight was in itself so satisfying that we felt no 
desire to investigate these subtle influences 

“ Communicating male and female light, 

Which two great sexes animate the world.”— Par. Lost. 

Wednesday , October 20-Passing between the 

Island of Capri and the main land, at half past seven 


102 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


in the morning we reached Naples. A thick haze 
hung about the bay, Vesuvius, and the mountains 
behind Castelamare ; but a eoast with a westerly 
aspect is rarely well seen at sunrise. After settling 
ourselves at the Hotel (Crocelle), we spent a short time 
at the Museo Borbonico, visited Virgil’s tomb at Pau- 
silippo, bought a few trifles at Balzani’s coral shop, and 
in the evening went to the Theatro de’ Fiorentini. 

Thursday , October 21. — Museo Borbonico. Sta¬ 
tues, bronzes, and domestic utensils of all kinds, from 
Herculaneum, Pompeii, and Stabise, with a multitude 
of objects of ancient art from Rome, and other parts of 
Italy. Bronze ornamental furniture, cooking appa¬ 
ratus, lamps of all forms and descriptions, earthenware 
and glass vessels, bread stamped with the baker’s name, 
figs, chestnuts, olives, carubbas, cherries, wheat, barley, 
walnuts, 1 enumerate as specimens of the articles of 
domestic use and daily food brought to the Museum 
from the disinterred cities ; tangible and sensible ob¬ 
jects, which, without being intrinsically wonderful, 
establish an interest and a fellow-feeling between our¬ 
selves and those who nearly eighteen hundred years 
ago perished in a single night by the most awful 
catastrophe on record. 

Afterwards we drove to Herculaneum, of which 
the portion that has been excavated underneath the 
houses of Portici remains in darkness, and is only to 
be explored by torchlight; a few of the seats of the 
theatre lying directly under the shaft of the well, 
the sinking of which originally led to the discovery of 


VESUVIUS. 


103 


the city, are alone accessible to the light of day; how¬ 
ever, at a very short distance, there is another excavated 
portion, quite open to air and daylight, where many 
fresco paintings, mosaic pavements, and tiles, one with 
the maker’s name upon it, the ends of charred beams 
in the walls, and iron gratings in the prison-windows, 
still encrusted with rust and ashes, are exhibited to the 
curious. 

Friday, October 22 .— Museo Borbonico. Spent 
a short time amongst the bronzes, implements, and 
utensils, from Herculaneum and Pompeii, and then 
drove to Resina, in order to ascend Vesuvius. The 
day was one of the finest possible for the purpose. To 
ascend to the summit from Resina, and return, occupies 
about six hours. After passing the tract of vineyards, 
the “ vicina Vesevo ora jugo,” we soon arrived at the 
Hermitage, from whence there is a superb view of 
Naples and the bay, with its island break-waters, 
Capri, Ischia, and Procida. We then crossed a large 
tract of lava, stones, and scoriae, which brought us to 
the foot of the cone, which we* ascended in less than 
an hour. On reaching the top we walked, through 
sulphureous smoke, and over hot ashes, to the southern 
side of the crater, whence we obtained a most delightful 
view of the surrounding country and mountains beyond 
Pompeii and Castelamare, in the direction of Amalfi 
and Paestum. Here there was a burning fissure, into 
which we thrust sticks, where they quickly took fire; and 
eggs buried in the heated soil soon became cooked. But 
more interesting still was the appearance of the craters ? 


104 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


that had burst forth near the base of the mountain in 
an eruption of former years ; for, as seen from above, 
not only the circular forms of these craters, but the 
shapes into which the accompanying ridges of lava 
were bent and moulded, together with the intermediate 
smooth fields of ashes, resembled in the closest manner 
the details of the irregularities seen on the surface of the 
moon, a similitude strongly indicating the exertion of vol¬ 
canic energies in our attendant satellite ; and the position 
of the sun, on which the shadows depended, was such 
as to exhibit the phenomenon to us in the greatest per¬ 
fection. It happened, also, that the moon was visible 
in the clear sky not far from the meridian, so that, with 
a telescope on the summit of the mountain, we might 
have gazed alternately at the craters of the moon and 
at those of the earth. 

The Phlegraean fields, on the opposite side of Naples, 
present a similar appearance, and whoever compares a 
well-executed map of the moon with a map of that 
volcanic district cannot fail to be struck with the resem¬ 
blance, and will readily Acknowledge that an Aristarchus, 
an Hipparchus, an Aristillus, and a Regiomontanus, 
may lay claim to relationship with an Astruni, a Monte 
Barbaro, an Avernus, and a Solfaterra ; and the single 
insulated steep rocks or monticules, that so frequently 
occupy the centres of the lunar cavities, find a parallel 
in the small conical hill which in the year 1767 stood 
in the centre of a plain within the encincture of the 
crater of Vesuvius. Most of the lunar volcanoes, it 
should seem, are extinct; but observations on record 


VESUVIUS. 


105 


render it highly probable that many are in a state of 
activity ; nay, that their eruptions have actually been 
witnessed by human eyes not very long since. 

Nor can any valid objection to the existence of 
volcanoes in the moon be founded upon the absence 
of an atmosphere like that of the earth ; for it is not 
certain that the moon has 710 atmosphere, and it is not 
atmospheric air alone that supports combustion; and it 
must be further borne in mind that volcanic eruptions 
are not merely local conflagrations confined to the 
surface of the globe, but are the effects of convulsions 
caused by deep-seated internal heat, and are quite 
independent of an external atmosphere ; and thus vol¬ 
canic matter is thrown up to the surface of the ocean 
from depths where never plummet sounded, and bursts 
asunder the bars of its prison-house in yet lower depths 
to which the atmosphere can with difficulty be imagined 
to have access, and w here at least it must cease to be 
an aeriform fluid. 

The crater of Vesuvius, as we saw it, was about 
two miles in circumference, and perhaps 500 feet deep. 
The sides were precipitous all round, and at several 
points some fine half-detached masses hung, ready, upon 
the slightest tremor, to fall into the crater, in the 
bottom of which was a small aperture, from whence a 
dense column of smoke and vapour ascended con¬ 
tinually wdth loud intermittent noises. A fearful pas¬ 
sage ! leading far below the base of the mountain to 
the chambers of the slumbering earthquake,—to lakes of 
perhaps incandesceiit w r ater,—and to furnaces holding 


106 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


the marble and the granite rock in a state of readiness 
to flash into steam on the removal of the excruciating 
pressure to which they are subjected. 

We were surprised at the great activity of the vol¬ 
canic energies apparent over the whole summit of the 
mountain. Hundreds of acres were hot to the feet, and 
emitted sulphureous smoke and hot watery vapours. By 
digging a hole in the soil, an extemporaneous vapour 
bath might easily, with a little caution, have been pre¬ 
pared. High above us was a crag from whence a 
great quantity of smoke issued ; indeed, in many 
places, the ordinary path-way lies within the crater of 
former eruptions. The whole of the cone is a vast 
barren heap of ashes, stories, scoriae, and lava; and, 
owing to the immense quantity of volcanic matter ex¬ 
tended over many square miles, the general aspect 
of the mountain is very desolate, excepting among the 
vineyards between Resina and the Hermitage. Some 
of the crags of the Monte di Somma, adjoining 
Vesuvius, are bold and precipitous. 

We ascended the cone by a rough path over the 
hard blocks of lava, and did not experience so much 
fatigue as we had expected. Two ladies were of our 
party, and with an occasional ride in a portajidinci, and 
some further help from two guides, they got up very 
well; but their shoes were burnt and cut to pieces. 
We descended the cone by a path in the soft ashes, 
into which we sank above our ancles at every step. 

Nothing can be less like the colouring of Vesuvius 
and the bay, at this time of the year, than the harsh 


POMPEII. 


107 


body-coloured drawings sold here. Perhaps, during the 
heats of summer, the skies may wear that exceed¬ 
ing golden hue, but their tone is now quite subdued, 
and at sunset the distance is sobered down to a verv 
rich and beautiful cast of grey. At night the stars are 
remarkably distinct. 

Saturday , October 23.— Excursion to Pompeii. 
The drive thither occupied us about two hours, and 
presented little to attract attention except the beds and 
cliffs of modern and ancient lava, through which, in 
some places, the road is cut. We began at Pompeii 
with the Street of Tombs, and the villa of Diomed, as 
it is called ; and then, having entered the gate of the 
town, we made a circuit of the whole, which occupied 
us about four hours. Here the usual principles of 
sight-seeing are reversed ; and the chief interest lies, not 
in those objects which least, but in those which most, 
resemble what we are accustomed to see every day. 
Thus we particularly noticed the public baths, so like 
those at Pesth, Mehadia, and Constantinople; the 
fountains in private gardens, dried up indeed, but 
otherwise perfectly preserved, in fine mosaic and shell- 
work, in the most approved Pompeian show-box taste ; 
the small chapels for the Lares and Penates, like those 
so often seen by the wayside dedicated to saints; and 
the wine and soup-shops arranged like modern cafes. 

Not that there was any lack of nobler objects. 
In one part many temples stood near together, and 
among them the temple of Isis. This quarter of the 


1 OS JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 

town before the great catastrophe, with the mountain- 
scenery to the southward, which is finely seen from 
hence, must have formed a site of great beauty and 
elegance, though, perhaps, without any very imposing 
effect, for at Pompeii almost every thing is on a 
small scale. The greater part of the dwelling houses 
are quite small, and, with the exception of Diomed’s 
villa, only one story high, and are calculated for a 
climate where the inhabitants live much in the open 
air, and when within doors wish as much as possible 
to exclude the heat and glare of the sun. A great 
variety of mosaic pavements, and fresco paintings re¬ 
main. The mosaics in some instances are very fine, 
particularly the large one which formed the floor of a 
room, and represented Alexander passing the Granicus. 
The frescos, with few exceptions, are indifferently 
executed, yet the designs are of a superior description. 
Their effect must have been very pleasing, and, indeed, 
is so still, though the w T alls are, for the most part, roof¬ 
less and bare. The tragic and comic theatres, and the 
amphitheatre, which is of considerable size, are very 
perfect. Not much sculptured stone or marble is to 
be seen ; the use of stucco appears to have been 
universal. Probably not a fifth part of Pompeii has 
yet been excavated. 

It would be vain to enter into a detail of matters 
bearing upon the manners and customs, physical and 
moral habitudes, of the ancients, as inferred from all 
that has been discovered at Herculaneum, Pompeii, 


TEMPLE OF SERAP1S. 


109 


and Stabiae. The subject has been exhausted in well- 
known learned works, and it would be foreign to the 
present purpose to attempt any thing of the kind. 

October , Sunday 24.— Quiet morning. In the 
afternoon to Pausilippo and Pozzuoli. After the long 
straight piece of road beyond the grotto of Pausilippo, 
we came suddenly upon a very lovely view of the sea, 
and the green island cliff of Nisida, and the town of 
Pozzuoli. The promontory of Miseno answers to 
Virgil’s description : 

At pius iEneas ingenti mole sepulchrum 
Ixnponit ; suaque arma viro, remumque, tubamque, 

Monte sub aerio, qui nunc Misenus ab illo 
Dicitur, aeternumque tenet per ssecula nomen.” 

^Eneid VI. 232. 

The remains of the edifice called the Temple of 
Jupiter Serapis are very extensive, though it is much 
decayed, and has been plundered of many of its co¬ 
lumns. It stands on a recent submarine formation, 
backed by an ancient volcanic cliff, now inland. The 
learned are not agreed upon the real character of 
the edifice, but three noble shafts of cipolline marble, 
more than forty feet high, are yet standing, the pe¬ 
culiarities presented by which, and by certain frag¬ 
ments lying near them, it is the province of the geolo¬ 
gist, rather than of the antiquary, to explain. The 
surfaces of these columns are smooth and uninjured to 
a height of twelve feet above their pedestals, to which 
succeed zones of about nine feet, where the marble has 
been perforated by marine insects ; but the remaining 


110 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


upper parts of the columns have undergone no such 
perforations, and appear to have been only subjected 
to the action of the weather. 

From hence it is inferred that the relative level 
of land and sea has changed twice at Pozzuoli since 
the Christian era, and that each movement of elevation 
and subsidence has exceeded twenty feet: but to 
make this clear further facts are required, and it is 
especially necessary to premise that the level of the 
water of the Mediterranean has been ascertained to 
have remained unchanged for the last 2000 years. 
Now by the evidence of inscriptions it appears that 
the marble pavement of the temple was constructed 
about a. d. 200, manifestly not in the sea; but in 
1580 a writer, named Loffredo, says that one might, 
in 1530, have fished from the cliff rising behind 
the flat land on which the temple stands ; and the 
probability is that the subsidence took place during 
the eruption of the Solfaterra in 1198, and during 
the earthquake of 1488. 

The state of things then, at the latter date, was 
as follows : the lower portions of the columns were 
embedded in pumice and other matters ejected into the 
sea from the Solfaterra; the middle portions were 
immersed in sea-water, and were subjected to its 
action, and to that of perforating insects ; and the 
upper portions projected above the water, and were 
exposed to the action of the weather alone. 

But in the year 1503 matters were again different. 
An Italian document, referring to the tract of land iu 


TEMPLE OF SERAPIS. 


Ill 


question, says, “ che va seccando el mare;” and in 
1511 a Latin deed makes a grant of part of the same, 
and speaks of it as “ desiccatumhowever, by the 
above statement of Loffredo, the principal elevation 
must have taken place after 1530. Now in 1538 the 
Monte Nuovo was formed: and Falconi and Toledo, 
eye-witnesses of the convulsion, attest to the abandon¬ 
ment of the shore by the sea, so that fish were taken 
by the inhabitants ; and, amongst other things, Falconi 
mentions that he saw two springs in the newly dis¬ 
covered ruins. The elevation of the Temple, there¬ 
fore, no doubt took place in 1538 ; at which time, 
it is worthy of remark, there was no simultaneous ele¬ 
vation of land, or apparent retreat of waters, at Ischia, 
Naples, or Castelamare. The Temple was then lost 
sight of until 1750, when it was rediscovered; the upper 
portions of the columns were then overgrown by thick 
bushes, and their lower portions firmly embedded in the 
formation of 1198, from which they were subsequently 
excavated. But it seems that the Temple, though 
at that time high and dry, was in a state of gradual 
subsidence; for Niccolini, the architect, who was em¬ 
ployed on the spot in 1807, occasionally saw the 
pavement overflowed; but he found in 1823 that it 
was under water daily, and he ascertained in 1838 
that the sinking had been continual, at the rate of 
one inch in four years ; and we ourselves found the 
pavement under water, with a quantity of small fish 
swimming about, and lines of stepping-stones regularly- 
distributed over the quadrangle. 


112 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


But this is not all. In 1828 a mosaic pavement 
was discovered six feet below the present marble one, 
implying some subsidence previous to all the changes 
already mentioned, which had rendered it necessary 
to construct a new floor (the marble one) at a higher 
level. The date assigned to the mosaic pavement is 
80 b.c., and of course it was originally constructed 
on dry land ; hence it appears that, in the year 80 b.c., 
the Temple was about twelve feet above the level 
it occupied in 1841 ; that about a.d. 100 it was six 
feet above that level, which rate of progression 
probably brought it, in a.d. 400, down to its present 
level; that in the middle ages it was about twenty 
feet below its present level; and that about 1800 it 
was rather more than two feet above its present level ; 
and that it is now, in 1842, slowly sinking. 

It is singular that, in the course of the above 
investigation, both subsidence and elevation of the land 
should have been proved by the taking of fish. Other 
numerous independent proofs exist in the Bay of 
Baiae of subsidences analogous to that of the Temple 
of Serapis. The sea, then, and not the rock, appears 
in such a case to be the fittest emblem of firmness 
and durability.* 

Monday , October 25.—Museo Borbonico : engaged 
the whole morning amongst the bronzes of Hercu¬ 
laneum, and the superb collection of Etruscan vases : 
then to the apartment to which the epithet of riservato 


* See Lyell’s “ Geology,” Vol. II. page 384-401. 


MUSEO BORBONICO. 


113 


is applied ; the contents of which, chiefly from Her¬ 
culaneum and Pompeii, cannot be detailed on paper. 
One piece of sculpture, of a revolting nature, illustrated 
the lines in Virgil, 

“ Novimus et qui te, transversa tuentibus hircis,— 

Et quo, sed faciles Nyraphse risere, sacello.”—E cl. III. 8. 

Among the splendid efforts of the chisel to be seen 
at Naples, the Hercules, perhaps, stands first. It is 
the finest possible embodying of a deity whose attri¬ 
bute is corporal strength ; the figure is made up of 
thews and sinews, but it is light and godlike, and 
derives additional dignity from its attitude of repose. 
The Apollo with the lyre and swan is a bewitching 
statue ; the fine flowing attitude, and the expression, 
are quite those of the god of music and heaven-born 
song. The celebrated Dirce is a wonderful piece of 
art, but, as a general rule, I prefer in sculpture single 
figures to groups. The Venus Vincitrice is colossal, 
with drapery from the middle ; it is, indeed, a figure 
whose presence breathes the spirit of the opening 
lines of the poem of Lucretius. The Venus Cal- 
lipyge, as the name denotes, is of a different character; 
it is said to be by Praxiteles, and though it is, in 
reality, an exquisite statue, I confess that, whilst I was 
looking at it, the tragi-comical story of the thief and 
servant-maid slid into my mind. In general, first-rate 
statues are equally beautiful from whatever side they 
are viewed, which is not the case with the Venus 
Callipyge. The Antinous presents the semblance of 
a very noble youth, with an ep^n and generous ex- 


114 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


pression; the statues of this vicious favourite of a 
vicious emperor are very numerous, and among the 
finest extant, and even in the firmament a constellation 
bears his name. Besides these, the Aristides, the head 
of Homer, the equestrian statues from Herculaneum, 
the colossal Flora, and the Agrippina, and an hundred 
others, deserve particular mention ; but I feel that 
I have already lingered too long in this wonderful 
collection. 

In the afternoon to the Palazzo Reale on the Capo 
di Monte. It is very large, and nearly new, and well 
worth visiting, were it only for the superb views of 
Naples, Vesuvius, and the sea, that you obtain from 
the windows. Called on Signor Capocci at the obser¬ 
vatory : in the evening to the Theatre San Carlino 
to see the performance of Pulchinella, which, if we 
might judge from the roars of laughter around us> 
is excessively entertaining to those who are acquainted 
with the Neapolitan dialect. 

Pulchinella is a character derived from antiquity ; 
he appears painted on one of the Etruscan vases in 
the museum in a dress varying very slightly from that 
which he now wears on the stage ; and a bronze figure 
was discovered at Rome in 1727 of the same person¬ 
age, who turns out to be the father of fun and fancy, 
and the great progenitor of the illustrious family of 
Punch, who has contributed to the entertainment of 
children, of early and of larger growth, for thousands 
of years. 

Tuesday , October 26. — Heavy rain all night — 
continued rain with thunder during the day. Prepa- 





CAPUA. 



“ Binse aures, duplici aptantur dentalia dorso.” 

Geojrg. I. 172. 














CAPUA. 


115 


rations for departure : called on Signor Capocci at the 
Observatory, and went over the establishment with 
him ; the piers of the meridian instruments are of 
Egyptian granite, and the equatorial is mounted on 
blocks of lava from Vesuvius. In the evening to 
the Theatre of San Carlos, the most magnificent in 
the world. 

Wednesday , October 27.—Left Naples for Rome 
at half-past nine in the morning in a hired carriage : 
the inside was occupied by ourselves, and the outside 
by a Sardinian Count, his servant, and the “ condut- 
tore.” At one o’clock we reached Caserta, where the 
royal palace is ornamented with marble columns 
brought from the Temple of Serapis at Pozzuoli. At 
Capua we visited the amphitheatre of the ancient city ; 
one of the finest ruins we have yet seen. A beaudful 
drawing might be made of the arched entrance, look¬ 
ing through it across to the opposite side of the 
edifice. The vast stones used in its construction are 
far more beautiful than brickwork, and there are many 
fine marble columns lying about intermixed with shrubs 
and verdure. 

Soon afterwards an accident happened to the 
carriage, which occasioned some delay, and gave me 
an opportunity of rambling over two or three of the 
fields which “ dives arat Capua,” and of making a 
sketch of a plough which I saw at work. The annexed 
cut represents the ploughshare that was in use, and it 
seems to illustrate Virgil’s 
“ Bin* aures, duplici aptantur dentalia dorso.”— Georg. I. 172. 


116 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


Later in the day heavy rain came on with thunder; 
we crossed the River Garigliano, anciently the Liris, 
and at eleven o’clock at night, and not before, we 
reached Mola di Gaeta,* in the midst of continued 
thunder and lightning, with squalls of wind and 
torrents of rain. At Mola we stopped to sup, and, 
owing to circumstances unnecessary to detail, the 
whole party agreed that it would be better to proceed 
the same night, and accordingly soon after midnight 
we started afresh, in the midst of tremendous rain, 
thunder, and lightning. Among the hills near Itri 
five or six times successively the thunder burst upon 
us with distinct crashing reports like shots of artillery 
fired over our heads across the valley, with an im¬ 
petuous torrent of rain that absolutely poured into 
the inside of the carriage, though all the glasses were 
closed. We then arrived at Fondi, where we re¬ 
mained about an hour, and the weather moderated 
a little. 

Thursday , October 28. — Early in the morning 
our passports were examined at the frontier gates of 
the Papal states, near which is the narrow pass of 
Lautulae, between the mountains and the sea, mentioned 
by Livy in the wars between the Romans and Sam- 
nites, and at eight o’clock we arrived at Terracina, 
and got well through the customhouse, and enjoyed 
our breakfast after the severe night we had passed. 
Terracina stands at the foot of the rocks on which 


* .Eneid VII. 1 . 


TERRACINA. 


117 


the ancient Anxur was built, which in Horace’s time 
were probably whiter than at present, and less over¬ 
grown with olives, prickly pears, and shrubs. Very 
considerable falls in the cliff have taken place, evidently 
long since Horace’s days, and where the fracture has 
occurred the newly exposed rock is of a yellowish 
brown. Just opposite the inn and customhouse, a very 
tall piece of detached rock stands apart from the main 
cliff; and a little further on, the ancient ruins crowning: 

o 

the whole are seen in an imposing situation. At about 
three or four miles from Terracina there was a frag¬ 
ment of a wall on the steep side of the mountain to 
our right, and on the flat marsh close to the road 
were trees more than sufficient to make a grove, but 
nothing that resembled the temple and fountain of 
Feronia. We then came to Bocca-fiume, which is 
near one of the outlets that help to drain the Pontine 
marshes into the sea, and to Torre-tre-Ponti, the 
ancient “ Forum Appii,” mentioned by St. Paul, and 
by Horace in his “ Iter Brundusium.” Every yard of 
this route is classic ground. We were now among 
those 


“ Qui saltns, Tiberine, tuos, sacrumque Numici 
Litus arant, Rutulosque exercent vomere colies, 
Circaeumque jugum, queis Jupiter Anxurus arvis 
Praesidet, et viridi gaudens Feronia luco ; 

Qua Saturac jacet atra palus, gelidusque per imas 
Quaerit iter valles atque in mare conditur Ufens.” 

jEneid VII. 797. 


Singularly enough, soon after our encountering so 


118 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


much thunder and lightning near Terracina, I acci¬ 
dentally met with the following passage, “ In Italia, 
inter Terracinam et iEdem Feroniae, turres bellicis tem- 
poribus desiere fieri, nulla non earum fulmine diruta.”* 

We arrived at Cisterna at about half past four 
in the afternoon, having nearly passed the Pontine 
marshes, which looked unusually wretched and dreary 
owing to the late rains, and were neither sea nor good 
dry land. Here we remained for the night; the 
rooms struck damp and chilly, so we lighted a fire, 
and spread open our luggage which had been exposed 
to the night’s rain, and smoked cigars vigorously until 
we retired. We were disturbed at two o’clock in 
the morning by thunder and lightning, with dreadful 
squalls of wind. 

Friday , October 29.—We started at half past six 
in the morning in a fresh thunder-storm, with vivid light¬ 
ning and heavy rain. On the road observed a great 
many olive-trees, some in small plantations, and others 
growing in wild places amongst fern and heather. 
Their foliage has a pleasing silvery tint, not unlike 
that of green tea. The vines were in many places 
trained gracefully on light trellis-work, made with the 
marsh reeds. 

Continued rain with thunder all the way by 
Velletri, Genzano, and Aricia, to Albano, which we 
reached at about half past eleven o’clock ; here we 
breakfasted, and remained nearly three hours, and 
then continued our journey, in the same weather, 


* Plin. II. 56. 


HOME. 


119 


to Rome, where we arrived at about five o’clock, and 
fixed ourselves in the Piazza del Popolo at Melloni’s 
Hotel (Isles Britariniques ). In the evening it cleared 
up, and the moon shone brightly; between eight and 
nine o’clock I took a quiet stroll round the fine 
Egyptian obelisk and fountain close at hand, and up 
the Via del Corso. All was hushed and still to a 
degree I had never before witnessed at so early an 
hour in a great capital; the shops were closed, only 
a few people were to be seen, and I heard little more 
than my own footsteps and the plashing of the numerous 
fountains. 

Saturday , October 30. — At Rome: weather still 
wet, with thunder and lightning. In the morning to 
the Vatican. Here we saw Raphael’s four celebrated 
frescos of Constantine, Heliodorus, the school of 
Athens, and the fire in Borgo San Spirito, painted 
on the walls of four different rooms or halls, which 
are named after them, which also contain many other 
frescos, all designed by Raphael himself, though some 
were coloured by his pupils. The ceiling in the hall 
of Constantine, representing the idol Mercury falling 
in pieces before the presence of the symbol of the 
crucifix set up in opposition to it, struck me as not 
being in the best taste. Here also were some superb 
pictures, amongst which Raphael’s Transfiguration 
hung supreme; and here, agreeably to the rule laid 
down with so much humour in the “ Vicar of Wake¬ 
field,” we did not fail to “ praise the works of Pietro 
Perugino.” 


120 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


Thence to St. Peter’s, with which the noble piazza, 
the colonnade, the Egyptian obelisk, and the two 
superb fountains, unite to form perhaps the most as¬ 
tonishing assemblage in Europe. But neither the 
exterior, nor even does the interior of St. Petei’s, 
before you come to measure and compare, strike you 
as being wonderfully vast, so exquisite are the pro¬ 
portions, and so wholly in character with all around 
you are objects of a large size. This is particularly 
observable in the colossal equestrian statues of Charle¬ 
magne and Constantine in the vestibule or covered 
portico that leads along the whole front. With respect 
to the structure itself: — 

“ Enter : its grandeur overwhelms thee not; 

And why ? it is not lessened ; but thy mind, 

Expanded by the genius of the spot, 

Has grown colossal.” —Byron. 

I must, however, confess that, agreeably to a first 
impression, there was something about the roof of the 
nave not altogether suited to the character of a sacred 
edifice, and that parts of the building may be said to 
have an appearance of coldness, notwithstanding the 
extreme richness and profuse variety of the marbles, 
and the extraordinary copies of the most celebrated 
pictures in mosaic ; but on arriving underneath the 
cupola, 

“ The vast and wondrous Dome, 

To which Diana’s marvel was a cell,” 

covered to the very summit with gigantic designs also 
in mosaic, the “musical immensity” and colouring of 


ROME. 


121 


which removes all idea of overwhelming size — every 
tendency to criticism gives way to wonder and ad¬ 
miration, not only whilst you are within the edifice, 
but afterwards, when the mind reflects leisurely on all 
that has been presented to it, and is at liberty coolly 
to admit the statistics, and peruse the measurements 
of a building that triumphs over all our ordinary 
notions of dimension. The celebrated bronze baldac- 
chino, or dais, by Bernini, underneath the dome, is 
about 120 feet high, which may serve to convey some 
idea of the space that is required to render an ornament 
on such a scale admissible. 

After taking a cup of excellent chocolate, we drove 
to some of the shops for cameos, pastes, and trifles 
of that description, and then to the Coliseum, or 
Flavian amphitheatre. We found it in a more ruinous 
condition than we had expected ; like all the edifices 
of ancient Rome, it has suffered severely from time, 
war, earthquakes, civil dissension, and abuse of the 
materials; and its effect is marred by the modern 
buttresses and arches that have been erected in order 
to support some of its parts, and by the ugly wooden 
painted shrines set up round the arena; but the 
mechanical support of the one, and the consecrating 
influence of the other, are essential to its preservation 
from further rapid decay and continued pillage: in 
fact, the Farnese palace, and other buildings, were 
constructed with materials actually quarried out of the 
Coliseum. Its elliptical shape is very fine, and greatly 
relieves the massiveness of the whole. From some 


G 


122 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


points of view, owing to its vast size, and the grass and 
shrubs that have overgrown it, rock and foliage as 
it were intermixed, the idea of its being a ruined 
edifice begins to fade away, and you are half persuaded 
that you are contemplating some object of natural 
scenery, until the reality is brought back by an inspec¬ 
tion of the arena, and the recollection of the atrocious 
festivals celebrated there for the delight of an emperor 
and of fifty thousand of his subjects at once. Nor does it 
appear that the Coliseum is immaculate in other respects. 
A living author says, “ When I wandered over this 
scene of guilt, I could not but regard it as a monument of 
prodigal folly and savage sensuality. Moreover, from 
the haste with which it was run up, there are numerous 
architectural eyesores, which, with its cumbrous attic, 
render it very inferior to the elegant amphitheatre at 
Pola, in Istria.” * This amphitheatre we should in all 
probability have seen had we returned by way of 
Trieste. Notwithstanding the accounts of ancient 
writers who attest the fact, and the evidence afforded 
by the holes visible in the upper cornice of the outer 
wall, in which the poles were fixed, it is not easy to 
understand how a canopy or awning could have been 
extended over the whole. The Coliseum was com¬ 
menced by Vespasian, and finished by Titus, who 
prolonged the festivals of its dedication to an hundred 
days, and is reported to have wept bitterly at their con¬ 
clusion ; an exhibition of feeling that resulted, no doubt, 


* Smyth on “ Roman medals,” page 63. 


ROME. 


123 


from the reaction naturally succeeding intense and pro¬ 
tracted excitement, and the consciousness of misspent 
time and treasure. 

Parties are frequently made to visit the Coliseum 
by moonlight; but whilst marshalling your thoughts in 
a train suited to the scene — calling up the dead within 
the magic circle of the arena—or crowding the ruin 
with Cellini’s demon audience, the illusion is apt to 
be wholly put to flight by finding that you have 
stepped up to the ankles in water, and by noisy visitors, 
and the annoyance of the key-bugle echoing through 
the corridors. An ancient ruin, to produce its full 
effect, should stand in a solitary place, and be seen in 
bright and tranquil sunshine, with all its details and 
adjuncts, even down to insects, reptiles, and wild 
flowers. 

After the vivacity and stir of Naples the solemn 
stillness pervading Rome is very remarkable, and quite 
in keeping with the spectacle of its ancient monuments 
in decay ; and in almost every part of the city you are 
refreshed by the sight and sound of the waters of the 
numerous fountains. 

Sunday , October 31.— Divine service at the 
English chapel. Thunder and rain. In the afternoon 
to the 

“.—Pantheon,—pride of Rome !” 

“ Relic of nobler days, and noblest arts ! 

Despoiled, yet perfect, with thy circle spreads 
A holiness appealing to all hearts— 

To art a model; and to him who treads 
Rome for the sake of ages, glory sheds 



124 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


Her light through thy sole aperture ; to those 
Who worship, here are altars for their beads, 

And they who feel for genius may repose 
Their eyes on honoured forms, whose busts around them close.’’ 

Byron. 

Thence to the church of Santa Maria sopra Min¬ 
erva, to see Michael Angelo’s statue of our Saviour, 
and to the church of San Pietro in Vincoli, to see his 
well-known statue of Moses. Thence to the Batisterio 
of Constantine, and the Church of San Giovanni in 
Laterano, in which is the famous Corsini chapel, and 
where also the cloisters are well worthy of a visit. 
Thence to the Scala Santa, or PIolv Staircase, said to 
be that which led up to Pilate’s Judgment-Hall; we 
saw many devout penitents, men, women, and children, 
ascending it upon their knees. To the Corso, and 
Pincian Hill, whence we saw the sun set behind St. 
Peter’s. 

Monday , November 1. — Festival of All Saints. 
Divine service in the Sistine chapel, where the pope 
and cardinals were all assembled. The singing was 
not particularly fine. We looked with great interest at 
Michael Angelo’s sublime frescoes on the ceiling and 
walls of the chapel, but they require a very bright 
day. We then paid a second visit to St. Peter’s, 
after which we returned to the Sistine chapel, but we 
soon came away, as the ceremony was very tedious. 
Visited some of our acquaintance whom we met here. 
Evening cold and wet, and we felt glad of a fire. 

Tuesday , November 2.—The Vatican. Saw a con- 


ROME. 


1‘25 


siderable portion of the wonder3 of this never-ending 
collection. The Antinous, the Laocoon, and the Apollo, 
are in themselves a gallery. The Antinous is a represent¬ 
ation of manly beauty not to be surpassed. The right 
arm is wanting, and the readiness with which the 
mind supplies such a defect is a singular proof of the 
abstract quality of sculpture of a high order. We 
found the Laocoon, as we had expected, a master-piece 
of art, but the art itself is, perhaps, too apparent. 
Laocoon’s two children assist in telling the story, and 
their attitudes are managed, and their proportions sub¬ 
dued, so as to remove all formality from the outline of 
the group : they were probably never intended for 
objects of minute attention, but were introduced to 
relieve and sustain the eye in subservience to the prin¬ 
cipal figure. Pliny makes mention of the Laocoon as 
the joint work of three Rhodian artists, Agesander, 
Polydorus, and Athenodorus. An extant inscription 
speaks of Athenodorus, son of Agesander; and upon 
this the pleasing conjecture has been founded, that 
Polydorus also was his son, enabling us to picture to 
ourselves the father and his two sons at work upon the 
same group, and suggesting the possibility of the 
three figures being portraits of the sculptors themselves, 
accounting at the same time, in some degree, for the 
evident disagreement of the stature of the children with 
their apparent ages. 

The Apollo Belvedere, or Apollo Venator, is proba¬ 
bly the finest statue in the world. After dwelling a while 
in undivided attention on the godlike image, we mused 


126 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


with feelings akin to awe upon the operations of the 
mind of the sculptor that could body forth such an ex¬ 
pression, and the hand that could turn the marble to 
such a shape, positively floating with grace and beauty. 

“ Or view the Lord of the unerring bow, 

The God of life, and poesy, and light— 

The Sun in human limbs arrayed, and brow 
All radiant from his triumph in the fight; 

The shaft hath just been shot—the arrow bright 
With an immortal’s vengeance ; in his eye 
And nostril, beautiful disdain, and might, 

And majesty, flash their full lightnings by, 

Developing in that one glance the Deity.” 

Byron. 

The fervours of this glowing description may be 
mitigated by contrasting it with that of Master Ed¬ 
mund Warcupp, who wrote and “ translated out of the 
originals for general satisfaction,” in 1660. Among 
other statues “ofthe politest marble,” he says, “in the 
fifth armory (of the Vatican) is the Apollo Pitheo, 
with a serpent at his feet, and carcase having a piece 
of cloth upon one arm, a bow and arrows in his hand, 
and all over naked.” 

The Apollo is nearly seven feet high, exclusive of 
the plinth. From certain technical indications in the 
folds of the mantle, and from the manner in which 
the marble is joined, as well as from its quality and 
condition, and from the support given to the left foot, 
and to the right arm, it is finally argued that 
this statue was never designed to be an object of 
public worship, that it has never suffered exposure 
to the outward air, and that it was in all probability 


ROME. 


127 


copied from a bronze, expressly for some rich Roman 
virtuoso, to adorn the gallery of his villa. 

We also paid our devoirs to the statue of the 
Venus, seated on a shell. It is smaller than life, and 
extremely lovely. Thence to the Museum of the Capitol, 
and saw the Faun in rosso-antico, the Hercules in silt 

u 

bronze, the Cupid and Psyche, the Capitoline Venus, and 
the sublime and touching statue called the Dying 
Gladiator. But gladiatorial combats were not in vogue 
in the best ages of sculpture, to which this production 
must be assigned; and the cord round the neck, and 
the accompaniments of the sword and shield, and the 
horn, seem rather to confer upon the dying man the 
title of herald, or attendant upon some warlike chieftain, 
in a capacity, perhaps, similar to that of Misenus,— 

“ Misenum ^Eoliden, quo non prsestantior alter 
vEre ciere viros, Martemque accendere cantu. 

Hectoris hie magni fuerat comes ; Hectora circum 
Et lituo pugnas insignis obibat, et hasta.” 

^Eneid VI. 164. 

This statue is very probably a copy of the bronze 
mentioned by Pliny (Lib. xxxiv. 8.) as the master¬ 
piece of Ctesilaus. The same author, however, when 
on the subject of bronzes, says of another statuary, 
that he was “ marmore felicior, ideoque clarior.” 

Quitting the Museum, and passing by the superb 
gilt bronze equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, we 
visited the Tarpeian rock. “Is this, ye gods, the Capi- 
tolian hill?” and yet any one falling into the dirty 
court-yard beneath would infallibly meet with a 
broken neck. But it is evident, from the excavations 


128 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


that have been made, that the level of the soil was 
originally many feet below what it is at present, and 
knowing that in Livy’s time the rock had crumbled away 
from the top, we now see enough to shew that the pre¬ 
cipice may once have been of very considerable height. 
We continued our walk by the beautiful remains of the 
Temple of Jupiter Tonans, the Temple of Fortune, and 
the arch of Septimius Severus, along part of the Via 
Sacra, with the Farnese gardens on the right, and the 
Basilica of Constantine on the left, to the Arch of 
Titus, and so, by the once “ lautse Carinae,” to the 
Coliseum, and the Arch of Constantine. No volume 
of any moderate size could give a detailed account of 
the remains of this portion of ancient Rome. With 
regard to these scenes, consecrated in part to time- 
honoured fictions, which Niebuhr and others bid us 
throw to oblivion, I cannot refrain from quoting one of 
Wordsworth’s later sonnets 

“ These old credulities to nature dear, 

Shall they no longer bloom upon the stock 
Of History, stript naked as a rock 
’Mid a dry desert ? What is it we hear ? 

The glory of infant Rome must disappear, 

Her morning splendours vanish, and their place 
Know them no more. If Truth, who veiled her face 
With those bright beams, yet hid it not, must steer 
Henceforth a humbler course, perplexed and slow, 

One solace yet remains for us who came 
Into this world in days when story lacked 
Severe research, that in our hearts we know 
How, for exciting youth’s heroic flame. 

Assent is power, belief the soul of fact.” 

But here also in a multitude of instances Truth 


ROME. 


129 


puts on her most serious garb. Witness only the 
basso-relievos upon the Arch of Titus, representing the 
spoils brought from the Temple of Jerusalem ; or 
those upon the Arch of Septimius Severus, where the 
erasement of the name of Geta and the defacement of 
his image—evidences of violence and of the hatred 
that conceived and brought forth fratricide — survive to 
this day on the monument erected to the honour of the 
father; — who can contemplate these, and not depart 
sadder and wiser from the presence of relics, and the 
study of lessons, such as no other locality can furnish ? 

In the afternoon to the Vigna Palatina, a villa be¬ 
longing to Mr. Mills. The view from the garden is sin¬ 
gularly interesting and beautiful. When you face the 
Aventine Hill, you look down upon what was the 
Circus Maximus; on the left, in the distance, are the 
heights of Albano, with the country between, and 
richly coloured masses of ruins in the foreground ; 
and on the right, a great part of Rome, with St. Peter’s. 
The garden is bounded by the ruined walls of the 
palace of Augustus, and the house itself stands im¬ 
mediately over some of the imperial apartments, now 
below the level of the soil. These are best seen about 
noon on a bright day. Thence to Thorvaldsen’s studio, 
where we admired the statue of a youth playing on a pipe, 
and some pretty basso-relievos. 

Wednesday , November 3.—The first fine day since 
we left Naples. Rome is certainly damp and chilly at 
this time of the year : a fire becomes desirable every 


130 


JOURNAL OR A TOUR. 


evening. The sun shone brilliantly all day, but a 
little more warmth would have been agreeable. 

Again to Saint Peter’s. We ascended to the sum¬ 
mit of the cupola, and obtained a near view of the 
gigantic mosaics, which at a distance produce an uni¬ 
form brilliancy and lightness of effect, perhaps un¬ 
attainable by paintings. Some of the pieces of which 
they are composed are two inches square. The pen, 
represented in the hand of one of the evangelists, is seven 
feet in length, which may give some idea of the scale 
upon which these mosaics are executed. The archi¬ 
tectural history of St. Peter’s is very interesting. An 
hemispherical dome, surmounted by a heavy weight, 
has, on mechanical principles, a tendency to burst at 
the sides, in consequence of which property, before the 
completion of the dome in 1590, it was judged neces¬ 
sary to gird it round with enormously massive bands 
of iron, and others have since been added. They are 
visible at intervals partially embedded in masonry. Sir 
Christopher Wren, in building St. Paul’s cathedral, took 
the precaution to erect the lantern, ball, and cross, on 
the summit of a pyramid of brick-work, round which 
the frame-work of the dome was afterwards constructed 
in carpentry of comparative lightness, forming a whole 
of amazing stability. 

A degree of imperfection of another kind in St. 
Peter’s arises from the rejection of Peruzzi’s plan of 
a Greek cross, of which the four arms are equal, and 
the final adoption of the Latin cross, as originally 


ROME. 


131 


designed by Bramante; for from the form of the 
Latin cross is derived the great length of the nave, 
which mars the effect of the dome, both within and 
without, by throwing it in both instances too far back 
from those portions of the building which must first catch 
the eye; nor has the front of the portico by Carlo Ma- 
derno escaped criticism ; nevertheless, the whole struc¬ 
ture stands confessedly a matchless wonder, nor would 
it be easy to say by how many definable degrees of mag¬ 
nificence St. Peter’s excels every other existing edifice. 

Again to the Antinous, the Laocoon, and the 
Apollo, and thence to the Etruscan cabinet in the 
Vatican. Here are a multitude of beautiful vases, and 
other antiquities ; but this collection is poor after that 
of Naples. On one of the Etruscan vases was a re¬ 
presentation of cock-fighting, and on another a carica¬ 
ture of Jupiter and Mercury, not unlike our modern 
clown and pantaloon ; Jupiter with a grotesque head 
thrust through the rounds of a ladder, about to scale a 
lady’s window, and Mercury performing a sort of far¬ 
cical Leporello-like character, with a lamp in his hand. 

Again to Thorvaldsen’s studio, and Mr Mills’ villa. 
The day was remarkably fine, and every part of the 
view was seen to perfection. In a corner of the gar¬ 
den an acanthus was growing by the side of a 
broken Corinthian capital, on which the sculptured 
leaves really seemed to be a copy of those of the living 
plant. 

Thursday , November 4. — High mass performed in 
church near the Piazza del Popolo. The pope at- 


J 32 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


tended in person, and we saw him arrive in state, and 
assist at the ceremony, which, however, was very 
tedious. In the afternoon to the superb new church 
of St. Paul, outside the walls of Rome, and took the 
following antiquities in the course of our drive ;—the 
Ponte Rotto, the ancient Pons Sublicius, the Temple of 
Fortuna Virilis, the Temple of Vesta, the Temple of 
Pudicitia Patriciana, the Arch of Septimius Severus in 
Foro Boario, the Arch of Janus Quadrifrons, the Clo¬ 
aca Maxima, the Mons Testaceus, the Tomb of Caius 
Cestius, and the Theatre of Marcellus. 

The Column of Trajan, and the Column of Marcus 
Aurelius, both adorned with continued spirals of basso- 
relievos, are, perhaps, the most remarkable monuments 
of the kind in Rome. The Column of Trajan stands 
on a spot once the centre of a Forum, renowned for its 
magnificence, but which lay for a length of time buried 
under an accumulation of earth and rubbish ; however, 
extensive excavations have been effected, laying open 
the column to its base, together with perhaps one-half 
of the area of the Forum. The basso-relievos relate to 
Trajan’s two Dacian campaigns, and contain authentic 
representations of the arms, implements, vestments, 
ceremonies, and tactics of the age, peculiarly interesting 
after a voyage down the Danube. On the column of 
Marcus Aurelius are, in like manner, exhibited the 
wars of that emperor with the Quadi and Marco- 
manni. The great number of ancient obelisks of Egyp¬ 
tian granite erected in the various Piazzas is another 
remarkable feature in Rome. 


CIVITA VECCHIA. 


133 


Friday , November 5.— Picture gallery at the Pa¬ 
lazzo de’ Conservatori. Noticed particularly two 
Sybils, one by Guercino, and the other by Domenichino, 
and the St. Sebastian, also by Domenichino. Rode 
in the afternoon about the Campagna. Saw several 
persons shooting larks, of which great quantities are 
thus killed. A running brook accompanied the great 
aqueduct that stretches across the Campagna towards 
the city; no doubt the same stream which used to be 
conveyed in the channel over the arches. 

Saturday, November 6 . — Preparations for depart¬ 
ure. Rode in the afternoon to Frescati; lovely view 
of the expanse of the Campagna bounded by the Ap- 
pennines, whose extreme visible fluctuation is Mount 
Soracte, with Rome and the sea in the distance, a little 
towards the left. Noticed several different kinds of 
ploughs at work. Weather quite lovely. 

Sunday , November 7-Quiet morning. In the 

afternoon to the gardens on the Pincian hill. Public 
lottery and music. Sky brilliantly clear, but the air 
chilly. 

Monday , November 8 . — Left Rome for Civita 
Vecchia at four in the morning by a diligence, and 
arrived there at noon. The Castor steamer, however, 
which had been advertised at Rome for to-day, was not 
in the harbour. 

Tuesday , November 9. — At Civita Vecchia. 
Steamer not arrived. Weather lovely and calm. We 
amused ourselves as well as we could by walking about 
and gathering shells on the sea-shore, and 1 made the 


134 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


accompanying sketch of a plough in the neighbouring 
fields, in using which the ploughman frequently stands 
upon the “binae aures” behind the “stiva,” or plough- 
handle, and so rides along the furrow, giving additional 
force to Virgil’s metaphor of “ imos currus.” 

Wednesday , November 10. — Early in the morning 
the steamer appeared in sight. We got on board in 
due time, and at about eleven o’clock we bade adieu 
to fair Italy, and got under way for Marseilles. On 
board we found Reschid Pacha and suite, on his route 
to Paris, and some Moorish passengers going to Leg¬ 
horn, and some English officers from India by way 
of Alexandria and Malta, who apprised us of poor 
Monro’s death at the latter place, the intelligence of 
which had not yet reached us. We made Cape 
Argentaro at about half-past three o’clock, and saw 
the sun set nearly over the island of Elba. 

Thursday , November 11.—At about five o’clock in 
the morning we came to an anchor off Leghorn, and 
after setting some of our passengers on shore, and 
taking on board others, we got under way at about 
eleven o’clock, with a fresh wind, and a somewhat 
threatening sky, and a great deal of swell, but happily 
at night it fell calm. 

Friday , November 12.—Bright sunshine and calm 
sea. About eight in the morning we discovered the 
Maritime Alps covered with snow, and at noon 
passed close by the Staechades Islands. At about two 
o’clock we were off Hyeres, and saw on our left the 
Medes rocks. The sun still shone brilliantly, but the 


CIVITA VECCHTA, near Rome. 




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LYONS. 


135 


wind was very cold, and stronger than was agreeable; 
but it again fell calm at sunset, and at about ten 
o’clock at night we arrived at Marseilles, and took up 
our quarters at the Hotel (d* Orient). 

Saturday , November 13.—Cleared our baggage at 
the customhouse, and walked about the town, which is 
very handsome and clean. Excessively cold wind, 
with clouds of dust. To the theatre in the evening. 

Sunday , November 14.—Walked about the town, 
and up to the Telegraph station, commanding a 
superb view of Marseilles and the sea. Weather 
warmer than yesterday : blue sky and bright sun. 

Monday , November 15.—Left Marseilles for Lyons 
at five o’clock in the morning. The scenery of the 
Rhone is extremely pretty ; but for hours together we 
passed through whole tracts of vineyard and corn-land 
quite laid waste by the violence and extent of the recent 
inundations. All the hills of any elevation were 
capped with snow. Bright sunshine and cold wind. 

Tuesday , November 16.—After travelling all night, 
we arrived at Lyons at seven in the evening. 

Wednesday, November 17. — At Lyons. Weather 
cold and damp to the greatest degree. The whole 
town enveloped in thick fog. Here the junction of 
the Rhone and Saone takes place, and during the late 
inundations the water rose to a most alarming height 
in the lower stories of the houses on the quays. 

Visited the Museum, which contains some remark¬ 
ably good modern pictures by Lyonnese artists, and 
some very fine small antique bronzes, and other cabinet 


136 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


curiosities. There was also a very perfect mosaic 
pavement on a large scale, representing a circus and 
Roman chariot-race. The “ carceres,” or starting places, 
are clearly depicted; a slave appears standing ready to 
dash water over the glowing wheels as the chariots 
come in, and the positions of the three pillars or 
“metae,” at each extremity of the oblong inclosure, or 
“ spina,” in the middle of the circus, round which the 
chariots were driven several times, shew that two very 
sharp turnings must be made in each circuit, affording 
on the whole a lively commentary upon Horace’s 

“.Metaque fervidis 

Evitata rotis.” 

Two chariots were represented overthrown, out of, 
I think, six, in contention for the prize. Two officials 
stood in the centre of the “ spina,” one holding a palm- 
branch, and the other a garland. The “ metae” were 
always kept on the left hand of the charioteers. 

We left Lyons at nine o’clock in the evening. 

Thursday , November 18.— At one o’clock we 
arrived at Chalons sur Saone. Weather wet and cold, 
and the general wintry appearance of the country we 
passed through struck us forcibly after the warm re¬ 
gions we had so lately quitted. At Chalons we met 
with one of our acquaintance, who left Malta on the 
28th of September, and had been to London, and had 
arrived thus far on his return to Alexandria. We 
left Chalons in the evening, and travelled all night. 

Friday , November 19. — Autun, Saulieu, Avalon, 
Vermanton, and Auxerre. 




PARIS. 


137 


Saturday , November 20. — Arrived at Paris, 
bound letters at the Post-office, containing painful 
intelligence, which damped the pleasure of the re¬ 
mainder of our journey. 

Sunday , November 21. — At Paris. Quiet day. 

Monday , November 22. — At Paris. Walked and 
drove about, and visited some of our acquaintance. 

Tuesday , November 23. — Some years having 
elapsed since our last visit to Paris, the Luxor obelisk, 
the fountains, and the general embellishments of the 
Place Louis Quinze, were quite new to us. W 7 eather 
wet, with a gale of wind. 

Wednesday, November 24. — A bright sunny day. 
Had two portraits taken by the process of the 
Daguerrotype. After several complete failures, the por¬ 
traits were produced, but so unsatisfactory were they, 
that for one of them we paid half the money rather than 
take it away, and the other we threw into the fire soon 
after we got home. All the portraits that I have ever 
seen taken by this process are not only unpleasing, 
but unlike the originals; and it is perhaps not difficult 
to account for this. Although the bare outline must 
be correct, yet the prepared metallic plate has a dis¬ 
agreeable glare, and, owing to the chemical properties of 
light, is variously affected by images which are neces¬ 
sarily of various hues depending upon the complexions 
of the sitters; for which reason there are generally 
some features and lines unduly exaggerated, and others 
smoothed down, so as to convey the truth, but not the 
whole truth ; and I once saw a Daguerrotype portrait 



] 38 


JOURNAL OF A TOUR. 


taken of a person with a ruddy complexion and clear 
bald head, which came out wholly falsified, by repre¬ 
senting, not the features of the original, but those of 
a swarthy individual dressed in hair powder. More¬ 
over, our idea of any person is not formed from 
the expression of the countenance at any given mo¬ 
ment, but is a general average of all the impressions 
made upon us by it at different times, an effect which 
a portrait painted in several sittings, which occupy 
time, may well express, but which the momentary 
process of the Daguerrotype may hardly succeed in 
producing. 

The French seem to exult over the destruction 
of the Waterloo trophies by the late fire at the Tower 
of London. 

Thursday , November 25. — Left Paris at nine 
o’clock in the morning. 

Friday , November 26. — Arrived at Calais late in 
the afternoon. 

Saturday , November 27.—Crossed to Dover, where 
we remained a few hours, and in the afternoon started 
for London, where, late at night, we arrived, with 
thankful hearts, in perfect health and safety. 











APPENDIX. 


H 









APPENDIX. 


The books in the annexed alphabetical list will be 
found, in connexion with the classics in general, both 
useful and interesting as works of reference before or 
after a tour such as this Journal comprises. Some few 
of them would probably be selected as travelling com¬ 
panions. Though the tour happens not to include 
Greece, yet, as such a route would in most cases lead 
the tourist thither, certain works relating to that 
country have been inserted. 

The numbers prefixed within brackets are those of 
Mr. James Bohn’s Catalogue. London , 1840. 

1 [250] Antichita di Ercolano. 9 vols. fol. 

Napoli , 1755-92. 

2 Bartoli’s Plates of the Basso-relievos of Trajan's 

Column. Roma , s. a . 

3 Bartoli’s Plates of the Basso-relievos of the Column 

of Marcus Aurelius. Roma. 

4 Bulwer’s Last Days of Pompeii. 8vo. London, 1840. 

5 [1768] Choiseul-Gouffier, Voyage Pittoresque de 

la Grece. 2 vols. in 3, fol. Paris, 1782-1822. 



142 


APPENDIX. 


6 [2129] Cramer’s Ancient Italy. 2 vols. 8vo. 1826. 

7 [2131] Cramer’s Ancient Greece. 3 vols. 8vo. 1828. 

8 [2461] Dibdin’s Tour in France and Germany. 

3 vols. 8vo. 1821. 

9 [2573] Dodwell’s Thirty Views in Greece. Folio. 

London , 1819. 

10 [3175] Gell and Gandy’s Pompeiana. 8vo. 

London, 1817-19. 

11 [3176] Gell’s Pompeiana. 2 vols. 8vo. Lond. 1827. 

12 [3440] Hamilton’s Campi Phlegrsei. 3 vols. in 1, 

Folio. Naples, 1776-79. 

13 [4036] Italia, Sicilia, &c. 5 vols. 8vo. Torino, 1838. 

14 Marsigli, Description du Danube, &c. 6 vols. fol. 

La Haye, 1744. 

15 Matthews’Diary of an Invalid. 2 vols. 8vo. 1822. 

16 Melling, Voyage Pittoresque de Constantinople. 

Folio. Paris , 1809-19. 

17 [5138] Lady Mary Wortley Montague’s Letters. 

3 vols. 12mo. 1763. 

18 [5150] Montfau^on, L’Antiquite Expliquee, &c. 

15 vols. fol. Paris, 1724. 

19 Murray’s Guide to Southern Germany. 8vo. 

London, 1840. 

20 Murray’s Hand-Book for Travellers in the East. 

8vo. London, 1840. 

21 Murray’s Guide to Northern Germany. 8vo. 

London, 1841. 

22 [5254] MuseeFran^ais. 6 vols. fol. Paris, 1803-22. 


23 

24 

25 

26 

27 

28 

29 

30 

31 

32 

33 

34 

35 

36 


APPENDIX. 


143 


[5259] Museo Borbonico. 12 vols. 4to. Nap.1824. 

[2578] D’Ohsson, Tableau General de l’Empire 
Otlioman. 3 vols. fol. 1787-1821. 

[5614] Pausanias, Description of Greece (Trans¬ 
lated from the Greek). 3 vols. 8vo. Lond. 1824. 

[5814] Piranesi, Veduta di Roma. 2 vols. fol. 

Roma, s. a. 

Pompeii. (From the Library of Entertaining Know¬ 
ledge.) 2 vols. 8vo. 1836. 

Rossini, Antichita Romane. Fol. Roma, 1822-23. 

[6443] Rossini, Antichita di Pompeii. Fol. 1837. 

Saint Non, Voyage Pittoresque de Naples et de 
Sicile. 5 vols. fol. Paris , 1781-86. 

Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities. 
8vo. London, 1842. 

[6960] Smyth on Roman Medals. 4to. 

Bedford , 1834. 

Smyth’s Sicily. 4to. London, 1824. 

Starke’s Continental Travellers’ Guide. 8vo. 1824. 

[8177] Wordsworth’s Athens and Attica. 8vo. 

London , 1837. 

Zahn, Ornements de Pompci, d’Herculanum, et 
de Stabias. Royal folio. Berlin, 1828. 








NOTE S. 


Note to page 13. 

In a private letter which I wrote from Ratisbon to 
a friend in England, I find an account of two other 
instruments of torture omitted in the Journal. One of 
these was a chair with sharp wooden spikes, upon which 
prisoners were condemned to sit with stone weights 
placed in their laps. 

This machine seems analogous to the x.vd(pog men¬ 
tioned by Herodotus. “ K vdcpog, suivant l’explication de 
Suidas, d’Hesychius, et de Timee, est un instrument 
arme de pointes, assez ressemblant aux chardons dont 
se servent les foulons, sur lesquels on faisoit mourir les 
criminels.” — Note 256 to Larcher’s Translation of 
Herodotus. Clio, XCII. 

It also calls to mind the “ harrows of iron ” under 
which David put the inhabitants of Rabbah. — 2 Sam. 
xii. 31 ; 1 Chron. xx. 3. 

The other was a kind of ladder furnished in the 
place of steps with sharply edged triangular prisms of 
hard wood, revolving on pivots, over which the criminal 
was repeatedly drawn by ropes, and suffered to fall 
back rapidly by his own weight. When we saw it, it 
stood against the wall at an angle of about forty-five 



146 


APPENDIX. 


degrees. It was probably very similar to the 
or ladder, made mention of by Aristophanes among 
other instruments of torture. 

AIAK02. 

KOi't 7 xuq •, 

SAN0IAS. 

TCCCrVOi Tf>07TOV, ZV X.\i[AOtKL 

\ ^ ~ V 

dq<j-oc$, x.£i[tu.(rcc<;, virr^ifoidi ftcctrTiycov, oz^uv, 

<TT£foXa)V, sr< o 1$ Tug piv&g o%og 

7rXl'v6oV<; Z7TlTl6z}<;, 7TCtVTCC TciWx .— Fiance , 638. 

Note to page 14. 

Valhalla. (Scandin. i.e. the hall of those who 
died by violence), in the mythology of the ancient 
Saxons, Scandinavians, Swedes, &c., the Paradise ol 
Odin, where, after death, the souls of warriors were 
believed to be feasted by Odin. — I^ondon Encyclo- 
pcedia , 1839. 

Also see Smith’s “ Dictionary of Greek and Roman 
Antiquities.” London , 1842. Article Cerevisia. 

See also the Notes to Herbert’s “ Helga.” 

Note to page 46. 

The Atmeidan, or Hippodrome, is little more than 
the site of the ancient Roman Circus commenced on 
that spot by Septimius Severus. The Obelisks and 
Brazen Column are all that remain of the decorations 
of the Spina of the Circus. 


APPENDIX. 


147 


Note to page 66. 

It may be observed, with respect to the ceremonies 
of both the Dervishes of Constantinople and Scutari, 
that dances of various kinds have been from the most 
ancient times closely connected with religion. It is 
quite needless to adduce learned authorities on a point 
so well known: even David, in dancing before the 

ark, was in all probability not yielding to a sudden 

/ 

impulse of ecstatic worship, but carrying out, in the 
purest and most reverential spirit, the observance 
of an ancient oriental custom, although established 
amongst idolatrous nations. One of my acquaintance, 
a young lady, lately arrived from the East Indies, 
shewed me not long since a drawing she had made 
of a Hindoo girl dancing before an idol. But the 
movements of the howling Dervishes, if not grossly 
corrupted, are surely derived from an impure source* 
Their rites are exactly described by the expression, 
cc [tiXog ri kvi<j[/,u etvAov^SvoV.”— A-theu. lib. 14. 


Note to page 85. 

“ Many have imagined the Carubba to have been 
the favourite diet of the Lotophagi, and perhaps it was 
so ; but its occasional use in the present day can bear 
no comparison to the claims of the rhamnus lotus, a 
shrub I have met with in such abundance in Africa as 
to indicate it likely to have been the general food of a 
primitive people,”— Smyth’s Sicily , 

h 2 


J48 


APPENDIX. 


Note to jmge 89. 

/ 

I forgot in the Journal to mention the very ancient, 
but small and delicate race of dogs, which, it is 
said, you may still meet with at Malta; but during 
our stay we never saw one of them, nor even was 
there one, whether of the true breed or not, exhibited 
to us, or offered to us for sale; which would surely not 
have been the case, particularly as there was a lady of 
our party, if any of the little animals had been forth¬ 
coming. One of our fellow-travellers, who knew Malta 
well, assured me that he had seen specimens of the 
breed, but that they would scarcely bear removal from 
their native climate. The following passage is from 
the chapter De la sotte vanite, in La Bruyere’s Trans¬ 
lation of the Greek of Theophrastus; among the cha¬ 
racteristics of the vain man he instances the following, 
“ S’il lui meurt un petit chien, il l’enterre, lui dresse 
une epitaphe avec ces mots : 11 etoit de race de Malte .” 
Kcct x.vvx^i.ov TitevTyirctvTog, ocvtm /xvy/xx 7roiv<rxi, xxi 
o-t/iXi^iov ttoiyictxs i7riy(>(/.■$/cci , KAAA02 MEAITAI02. 

nEPI MIKPO<I>IAOTIMIA2. 

Note to page 12*2. 

“ The Coliseum is of an elliptical form, and covers 
nearly six acres of ground. The major axis is 616 feet, 
and the minor 510, with a height of 160.”— Smyth on 
Roman Medals. 

Tacitus says ( Annul . xiv. 20), “ Erant qui Cn. 
Pompeium incusatum a senioribus ferrent, quod man- 


APPENDIX. 


149 


suram theatri sedem posuisset: nam antea subitariis 
gradibus, et scena in tempus structa, ludos edi solitos: 
vel si vetustiora repetas, stantem populum spectavisse ; 
ne, si consideret, theatro dies totos ignavia continuaret.” 
And thus the ancient Romans lapped at the stream of 
pleasure, not bowing down upon their knees to drink ; 
and so went forth to conquest. In how altered and 
debased a spirit were the spectators of after-times 
assembled in the Coliseum! 

The gorgeous theatrical canopies of the Romans 
must have produced a remarkable effect, independent 
of their practical utility, transmitting variously coloured 
light over a multitude whose numbers were computed 
by tens of thousands, and upon an arena that was itself 
upon occasion strewn with a brilliantly tinted mixture 
of borax and cinnabar. In them the Emperor Caligula 
found materials for practical jesting, when, “ gladiatorio 
munere, reductis interdum flagrantissimo sole velis, 
emitti quenquam vetabat.”— Suetonius . Upon them 
the wit of Martial has been exercised, and they have 
furnished Lucretius with imagery illustrative of some 
of the most exalted topics to be found in his poems. 
Speaking of colours, he says, 

“ Nam certe jacere ac perciri multa videmus, 

Non solum ex alto, penitusque, ut diximus ante, 
Verum de summis ipsum quoque ssepe colorem : 

Et volgo faciunt id lutea, russaque vela, 

Et ferrugina, quom magnis intenta theatris 
Per malos volgata trabesque, trementia flutant. 
Namque ibi consessum cavea'i subter, et omnem 
Scena'i speciem, patrum, matrumque, deorumque* 


150 


APPENDIX. 


Inficiunt, coguntque suo fluitare colore : 

Et quanto circum mage sunt inclusa theatri 
Moenia, tam magis hrec intus, perfusa lepore, 

Omnia conrident, conrepta luce diei.” 

Lucretius , iv. 70-81. 

And again, speaking of storms, 

“ Dant etiam sonitum patuli super requora mundi, 
Carbasus ut quondam magnis intenta theatris 
Dat crepitum, malos inter jactata, trabesque.” 

Lucretius , vi. 107-109. 

In both which passages the poet alludes not only to 
the upright “mali” or masts, but also to beams or rafters, 
as if, in addition to tension, some wooden frame-’work or 
skeleton roof were made use of to sustain the cloth of 
the canopy. In colouring, sound, motion, and general 
effect, under a bright sun, and during a breeze of wind, 
we have nothing like what these enormous canopies 
must have presented, excepting, perhaps, a vast and 
gaily coloured balloon, when half filled with gas, upon 
a bright gusty day, rolling and wallowing from side to 
side, like an expiring sea-monster, with varying hues, 
and almost breathing noises. The undulating motion 
of the curtains of our largest theatres affords nothing 
beyond an agreeable whet to tiptoe expectation. 

Note to page 125. 

Juvenal’s “ nequeo monstrare et sentio tantum,’ 
is at first sight the only account to be given of the 
pleasure enjoyed in contemplating works of art, and 


APPENDIX. 


151 


especially sculpture; but a little consideration shews it 
to be analogous to the pleasure derived from a simile, 
which Dr. Johnson defines to be “ the discovery of 
likeness between two actions in their general nature 
dissimilar, or of causes terminating by different opera¬ 
tions in some resemblance of effect.” And again, “ A 
simile may be compared to lines converging in a point, 
and is more excellent as the lines approach from greater 
distance .’—Life of Addison. And by a like operation 
of the mind, a block of marble, every way most unlike 
the living subject, becomes, under the hands of the 
sculptor, a most delightful object of contemplation, 
from the pleasing influence of form alone ; for in sculp¬ 
ture, the effects of light and shade, and of perspective, 
are impossible; and any attempt at a closer approach 
to similarity by colouring would defeat its own pur¬ 
pose, and tend, like an exhibition of wax-work, to over¬ 
whelm the spectator beneath an ineffectual load of 
detail and lifeless exemplification. 

Sculpture is pre-eminently distinguished by its 
purely abstract quality—its ideality—and its holding 
the letter in complete subjection to the spirit of the 
subject ; nay, if it falls but little short of this degree of 
excellence, it is at once repudiated. And it is from 
these abstract properties of the art that the mind’s eye 
acquires the power of restoring, as it were, a mutilated 
statue; for, provided the relic be first-rate, however 
its material shape may have been injured, the spectator 
will without effort recall the form of the original con¬ 
ception, as though it were immortal and indiscerptible. 



152 


APPENDIX. 


And with all its high and abstract qualities, sculp¬ 
ture is necessarily tied down to rigorous accuracy of 
shape and outline. For who could endure dispropor¬ 
tion or deformity in a statue ? who bear to enter upon 
a physical question of thews and sinews, when called 
upon to feel deeply, and to generalise upon moral attri¬ 
butes ? Moreover, a statue is, geometrically speaking, of 
three dimensions ; and is, on that very account, brought 
into such palpable, close, unprotected contact, such 
immediate comparison, with surrounding objects and 
the breathing world, that it requires to be ensured 
from meeting with positive contempt by the magic 
influence of its abstract qualities, with which, as with a 
kind of divinity, it must be hedged about, or perish. 
The roughest design ever modelled — the rudest sketch 
ever dashed off—will be more pleasing than the finished 
statue which does not quite succeed. It is scarcely too 
much to say, that a sculptor ventures for complete 
success or total failure. 

In painting the case is wholly different. Here the 
artist produces the effect by a knowledge of colouring, 
light and shade, and perspective, each, indeed, requiring 
separate study, but each contributing its distinct re¬ 
sources, combining at last in favour of the painter. 
Here many acknowledged faults are venial; not that 
the art has in itself no abstract quality — far from 
it; but because the faults can be artificially concealed, 
and, therefore, do not interfere with the delight of 
the spectator. In matters of art, “ ce n’est pas pecher 
que pecher en silence.” 


APPENDIX. 


153 


Sculpture, as before stated, is of three dimensions; 
but painting is only of two, and is exhibited on an 
uniform plane surface; and is thus, as it were, carried 
into another region safely removed from the juxta¬ 
position and interference of external objects; and, 
therefore, the lowest degrees of the art, down to the 
positively bad, and even wretched, will never be with¬ 
out advocates and supporters; because a picture never 
can cease altogether to be imitation — never through 
the meretricious blandishments of false taste can risk 
the entire loss of its denomination and character — a 
loss which infallibly befalls the sculpture that sinks 
below a certain limit, or oversteps the modesty of the 
rules naturally assigned to it by human feelings and per¬ 
ceptions. The “ Transfiguration” of Raphael, and the 
veriest sign-post daub, are both of them pictures; but 
the Theseus of the Parthenon, and Wyatt’s Newfound¬ 
land dog in variegated marbles, are not both statues. 

Painting may, with all propriety, consist of large 
groups of figures; but, if an historical subject, for 
example, consisting perhaps of fifteen or twenty per¬ 
sonages, were attempted to be represented in sculpture, 
though each particular figure might be admirably 
executed, yet the whole would be little better than a 
spectral assemblage, encroaching to an intolerable degree 
upon external objects. In one of the churches in the 
Netherlands the oaken sculpture about the pulpit is open 
to a similar objection. The subject is the calling of 
the fishers James and John by our Saviour. The figures 
stand too far from each other, and, what is worse, by an 


154 


APPENDIX. 


oaken sea-shore lies an oaken boat , to the entire destruc 
tion of the imitation, which at the same time would ha\e 
been tolerably well preserved had the whole been con¬ 
structed of marble. Yet such subjects as these might 
very properly be represented in basso-relievo, in which 
a multiplicity of figures is rescued from the interference 
of things around them, by their being, as in a picture, 
necessarily referred to one general plane surface. Hence 
it follows that the number of figures in a group of 
sculpture ought not to exceed two or three; and that 
the most intellectual efforts of the chisel are single 
figures. I am inclined to look upon the Laocoon 
less as a group, than as a single figure exquisitely 
garnished . 

Again, for example, let Cupid chaining a lion be 
represented in sculpture. Agreeably to the abstract 
spirit, the relative proportions of the figures need not 
be sustained. The lion may with propriety be repre¬ 
sented much smaller in proportion than the Cupid, for 
the object is to embody an allegory — the triumph of 
Love over brute force —and not the taming of a real 
lion by a child, which possibly such a group might 
assume the appearance of if exactly proportioned. But 
let the same subject be represented in a painting, and 
no such liberty can be taken with the relative propor¬ 
tions ; for the art is endowed with accessories sufficient 
to secure it against misinterpretation, and is in return 
pledged to fidelity. 

Sculpture, born to lofty flights, and unbounded 
range of thought, degenerates as soon as domesticated; 


APPENDIX. 


155 


but painting by admitting a lower tone becomes fitted 
for the cabinet as well as the gallery. It has been 
observed of Chantrey, that his fancy subjects lost 
much of their intellectual intention after he had been 
long engaged in the execution of busts and portraits in 
marble: on the other hand, the poet Cowper's well- 
known effusion owes its tenderness to its being addressed 
to a painting. He would never have dwelt upon the 
scenes of his childhood, and introduced us into the very 
nursery, in lines penned to his Mother’s Statue. 

But when objects of three dimensions are inju¬ 
diciously mingled with those of two, failure is sure to 
be the result. This may be seen in stage scenery, and 
in the branches of imitative art allied to it. Theatrical 
effects are essentially of three dimensions, and are pro¬ 
duced by the joint agency of living performers and 
scenery; which latter is displayed bodily on a stage of 
both width and depth, but is unavoidably backed by a 
landscape or sky painted upon a plane surface, in fact, 
a picture ; and is therefore somewhat of a mixed and 
ambiguous character; which, however, escapes remark 
so long as the interest of the audience is engrossed by 
the action and dialogue. But when the proper interest 
of the drama falls off, vain are the efforts made to 
elevate stage scenery into a source of real entertain¬ 
ment. Every one must have been struck by the in¬ 
commensurable elements of imitation brought together 
in the moving panoramic views, with which, in spite of 
their cost and magnificence, the effect of our panto¬ 
mimes is annually chilled; and I recollect once seeing 


156 


APPENDIX. 


some dwarfs or pigmies make their entry from what 
was intended to represent their diminutive dwelling, 
but which was painted on the front scene, and there¬ 
fore looked like a dwelling of ordinary size seen in 
perspective at a considerable distance; so that a few 
steps carried the tiny actors to the very front of the 
stage over a seeming space of at least half a mile, to the 
confusion of all intelligible effect. Similar mistakes 
are committed by the introduction of such objects as 
water-wheels that revolve, streams that flow, and cot¬ 
tage chimneys that smoke, into the exhibition of the 
Diorama. 

Tableaux vivanls are the converse of paintings; 
they make solidity look like surface, and the real living 
subject stand for its own resemblance. From what has 
been said above, it is easy to see that they must be 
conducted with care and good taste, and that any in¬ 
judicious introduction of accessories confounding them 
with stage effect would be fatal to the illusion. I 
remember a charming effect taking place quite acci¬ 
dentally in a tableau. One of two lovely young women 
who formed the group, fatigued no doubt by the 
attitude in which she was standing, unconsciously be¬ 
gan to move, as if reanimated, like another Hermione, 
whilst her eyes lightened up, and a smile played about 
her lips, as she gazed upon her motionless companion, 
as if she were about to address her; and in that instant 
the curtain was let fall, leaving an impression on the mind 
more agreeable perhaps than any that fancy could have 
evoked from a bewitching and masterly painting. 


APPENDIX. 


157 


In The Winter’s Tale the spectacle of Hermione as 
a painted Statue is neither barbarous nor absurd in 
the representation, taken in conjunction with the dia¬ 
logue, and arrangement of the scene. In the minds of 
the audience the injured Hermione yet lives; and on 
the stage even Leontes does not seem quite deceived 
by the artifice, but to be half addressing his words to 
her ears , and half to those of the surrounding per¬ 
sonages. The manner too in which the harshness of 
the scene is softened down by his referring to Perdita, 
and so constituting her a connecting link between the 
Statue and the other characters present, together with 
Perdita’s reply, is eminently beautiful. 

Leon .O, royal piece, 

There ’s magic in thy majesty, which has 
My evils conjured to remembrance, and 
From thy admiring daughter took the spirits, 
Standing like stone with thee ! 

Per. And give me leave ; 

And do not say Tis superstition, that 
I kneel, and then implore her blessing. 

Winter’s Tale , Act V. Sc. 3. 

In reading even these few lines we forget the in¬ 
animate Statue , and see only the wife and mother. 

The conclusion intended to be drawn from these 
remarks is, that imitation addressed to the eye, whether 
effected by sculpture, painting, or stage effects, must, 
to be pleasing, possess a certain unity of action; and 
that the most abstract and perfect of these is sculpture. 



158 


APPENDIX. 


But, since examples similar to those adduced will 
readily suggest themselves to every one, further en¬ 
deavour to illustrate these points becomes superfluous. 

Note to page 132. — Trajan s Column. 

I cannot forbear quoting the latter portion of a 
short poem, by Wordsworth, addressed to this beautiful 
relic. 

u Memorial Pillar! ’mid the wrecks of Time 
Preserve thy charge with confidence sublime— 

The exultations, pomps, and cares of Rome, 

Whence half the breathing world received its doom ; 
Things that recoil from language ; that, if shewn 
By apter pencil, from the light had flown. 

A Pontiff, Trajan here the gods implores; 

There greets an embassy from Indian shores ; 

Lo ! he harangues his cohorts — there the storm 
Of battle meets him in authentic form ! 

Unharnessed, naked, troops of Moorish horse 
Sweep to the charge; more high, the Dacian force, 

To hoof and finger mailed ; — yet, high or low, 

None bleed, and none lie prostrate but the foe; 

In every Roman, through all turns of Fate, 

Is Roman dignity inviolate; 

Spirit in him pre-eminent, who guides, 

Supports, adorns, and over all presides ; 

Distinguished only by inherent State 
From honoured Instruments that round him wait; 
Rise as he may, his grandeur scorns the test 
Of outward symbol, nor will deign to rest 
On aught by which another is depressed. 

Alas ! that one thus disciplined could toil 
To enslave whole nations on their native soil, 


APPENDIX. 


159 


So emulous of Macedonian fame, 

That, when his age was measured with his aim, 

He drooped, ’mid else unclouded victories, 

And turned his eagles back with deep-drawn sighs,— 
O weakness of the great! O folly of the wise ! 

Where now the haughty empire that was spread 
With such fond hopes ?—her very speech is dead ; 

Yet glorious Art the sweep of Time defies, 

And Trajan still, through various enterprise, 

Mounts, in this fine illusion, toward the skies: 

Still are we present with th’ imperial Chief; 

Nor cease to gaze upon the bold Relief 
Till Rome, to silent marble unconrined, 

Becomes, with all her years, a vision of the mind.” 

We may couple with these lines the following 
passage from Gibbon. 

“ Trajan was ambitious of fame; and as long as 
mankind shall continue to bestow more liberal applause 
on their destroyers than on their benefactors, the thirst 
of military glory will ever be the vice of the most 
exalted characters. The praises of Alexander, trans¬ 
mitted by a succession of poets and historians, had 
kindled a dangerous emulation in the mind of Trajan. 
Like him the Roman emperor undertook an expedition 
against the nations of the East; but he lamented with a 
sigh that his advanced age scarcely left him any hopes 
of equalling the renown of the son of Philip.” 

I cannot, however, after an inspection of Bartoli's 
engravings of the Relief, quite admit that 

u None bleed, and none lie prostrate but the foe.” 


160 


APPENDIX. 


And in one place some Roman soldiers that had been 
taken prisoners are represented as being tortured by 
the Dacian women, who are burning them in various 
parts of their bodies with lighted torches. To this day, 
among savage nations in various parts of the world, 
the women bear a part in tormenting and insulting 
their prisoners of war. In the first part of King Henry 
the Fourth are mentioned the outrages committed by 
the Welsh women at the defeat of Mortimer. 

In the engravings the Dacians are represented with 
a national cast of countenance, which is kept up 
throughout; and I was strongly impressed with the idea 
that I recognised therein the cast of features I had 
previously observed among the Wallachians upon the 
Danube, about Orsova and Mehadia; but I cannot 
speak with certainty on a point with which accident 
and fancy may have much to do. 

The Column of Marcus Aurelius is less celebrated ; 
but among the sculptures thereupon is to be seen the 
very remarkable figure of Jupiter Pluvius, who is said to 
have interposed his miraculous assistance between the 
Roman army and that of the Quadi; in consequence, 
as believed by the Emperor himself at the time, of the 
prayers of his Christian soldiers. For, being in a most 
straitened condition, the Romans were saved from perish¬ 
ing from drought by a violent torrent of rain, whilst 
the Quadi were dispersed in terror with hailstones, and 
thunder and lightning. — See Crevier’s Roman Em¬ 
perors , Vol. VII. Mill’s Translation. Lond. 1814. 


APPENDIX. 


161 


Note to page 136. — The Lyons Mosaic. 

Unfortunately, my account of this remarkable mosaic 

is very imperfect. My companions complained of the 

cold of the place, and hurried me away; and I could 

not obtain anv information from our attendant. An 
•/ 

accurate drawing should accompany any written de¬ 
scription of this mosaic. It is mentioned, and several 
of its details are specified, in Smith’s Dictionary of 
Antiquities before referred to, article Circus. 

I learn now that there were in this mosaic not six, 
but eight chariots represented; and in a rude sketch, 
which I began on the spot, but was prevented from 
finishing, I find depicted a double set of DelphincB , four 
in each set, all spouting water. The Ova I seem to 
have omitted. In the passage, between the Meta and 
Spina, the extreme ends of the latter are not hollowed 
out into a circular recess, as they are in many examples. 
The slave, whom in the Journal I have perhaps too 
hastily described as standing ready to dash water over 
the chariot-wheels, is standing on the alba linea exactly 
in the situation of letter Iv in the woodcut in page 229 
of Smith’s Dictionary. Of this figure Artaud says, 
“ Pres les barrieres est un homme a pied dans Taction 
de courir. II est vetu de vert, et tenant dans un bassin 
la somme destinee au vainqueur, qui est representee 
par du lapis, eomme une chose precieuse.” And a 
little further on, he says of the horses, “ Les chevaux 


162 


APPENDIX 


se font remarquer par leur queue coupee a l’Anglaise.” 
The two officials, with the garland and palm-branch, 
are standing in a wide passage in the centre of the 
Spina. The Barrier of the Tilt-yard seems to have 
derived its origin from the Spina of the Circus. 


THE END. 


LONDON: 

PRINTED BY 1IOYES AND BARCLAY, CASTLE STREET 
LEICESTER SQUARE. 
















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